Constitutional Amendment Bill: CJP’s appointment from panel of five proposed

ISLAMABAD: The government has deferred the tabling of the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2024 in the National Assembly as its hectic efforts fell short of evolving a consensus on the amendment on Sunday.

The sitting of the National Assembly, which was to start at 11:30am on Sunday, was delayed twice till 4pm and then till 10pm. However, soon after the start of the proceedings at 11pm, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq adjourned the House to meet again at 12:30pm on Monday (today).

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, whose was at the centre of most activities till Sunday night, Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari, Omar Ayub, Syed Khursheed Shah, who was chairing the meeting of Special Committee on Assembly’s Rules and other members of the committee present there, did not turn up for the brief proceedings, which were held as a formality.

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, after the assembly session, also confirmed that the government could not secure the support of Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the constitutional amendment.

Asked whether numbers are complete for the amendment, the defence minister said, “Maulana have not supported us and the result will be known tomorrow.”

Khawaja Asif said it seemed that the numbers required for the passage of the constitutional amendment were not complete.

Meanwhile, PMLN President Nawaz Sharif reached Islamabad from Lahore in a hurry in the evening, and went back in the night without attending any important meeting. The episode upset the PMLN workers, according to party sources.

Sources said Maulana Fazlur Rehman refused to support a couple of clauses of the ‘constitutional package’, including extension in judges’ tenure and increase in their retirement age, leaving the government-proposed constitutional amendment hanging in the balance.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, while ruling out the passage of constitutional amendment in near future, said his party would require at least to go through the draft of the amendment.

The remarks of Haideri gave the impression that the government’s effort to get the constitutional amendment passed had fizzled out. “Had it been the government’s draft, they would have shared it with us,” he said.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who attended the meeting of the special committee, also strongly proposed that the move to table the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2024 should be deferred.

The government having 214 MNAs on treasury benches, was in dire need of securing the support of eight members of the JUIF to get close to the required number of 224.

Sources said the prime minister also contacted Akhtar Mengal, but he demanded draft of the amendment and conditioned his party’s support with the recovery of missing persons in Balochistan.

The Senate session, which was also scheduled to meet on Sunday, was adjourned to meet at 11:30am on Monday. The federal cabinet, which was also scheduled to meet on Sunday to approve the constitutional package, would also hold its meeting on Monday.

The government delegation, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, earlier, met Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence twice to muster his party’s support. In the first meeting, Ishaq Dar was accompanied by Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar and Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi. JUIF Secretary General Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Aslam Ghori and Mir Usman Badeni assisted Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the meeting.

After the second meeting held later in the night, Maulana Haideri told the media they had sought the draft of the constitutional amendment from the government. “We have told the government to defer tabling of constitutional amendment in the National Assembly,” he said.

The PTI delegation comprising the opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan and Barrister Gohar also visited Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The parliamentary party of JUIF also met with Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the chair. It exchanged views on different matters related to the proposed constitutional amendment.

A meeting of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Parliamentary Party was also held with MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in the chair. It discussed different aspects related to constitutional matters.

Sources said the government’s main focus in the constitutional amendment package, containing 22 clauses, was the formation of a constitutional court to deal with matters relating to the Constitution. The bill proposes amendments to Articles 51, 63, 175, 181 and 187 of the Constitution of Pakistan. It also includes an amendment to increase the representation of Balochistan Assembly from 65 seats to 81.

It also proposes the formation of a constitutional court — which the draft says will hear the petitions related to Articles 184, 185 and 186. The remaining four judges of the constitutional court would also be appointed by the government, sources added. The inter-provisional transfer of high court judges has also been proposed.

Another important amendment proposed in the bill sought the appointment of chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) through a five-member panel comprising top court judges. A merger of the judicial commission and parliamentary party is also sought in the bill, which will be responsible for selection of judges.

The key points of the constitutional package also include an amendment to Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, which deals with the issue of disqualification of members of parliament on grounds of defection.

The prospects of the said constitutional package come amid speculations revolving around an extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa — who is set to retire in October this year — after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sought an early issuance of notification regarding the next top judge last month.

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif asserted that they had achieved the magic numbers in both upper and lower houses of parliament for the passage of the much-touted constitutional amendment. In response to a question regarding the Supreme Court’s clarification on reserved seats verdict issued a day earlier, the defence minister said: “We will be successful despite the apex court’s statement favouring the opposition.”

“Apart from Maulana Fazl and coalition parties, some other votes will be secured,” the federal minister hoped without divulging details. “They are not legally or constitutionally bound to any party.” He castigated the July 12 reserved seats verdict, terming the apex court’s decision ‘an attempt’ to block the way for the constitutional amendment.

Separately, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan alleged that the government was making amendments in the dark of the night, billing it an attempt to weaken the judiciary. Speaking to the media in the Parliament House, he said the meeting was about to start and no one had seen the bill. “The government has not shared the bill with us even today. The government also did not say that voting should be held today,” he said in reply to a question.

He said the Supreme Court gave a very strong decision yesterday, adding that no suggestion from Maulana Fazlur Rehman was implemented. “We only heard and did not give any suggestion; there was an in-camera discussion of the committee,” he added.

At one stage, the PTI leaders came out of the special committee meeting, as Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub claimed the special committee was powerless. He claimed the committee had no mandate to bring about the constitutional amendment.

Meanwhile, in a message on his X account, the opposition leader contended that the special committee had no mandate to bring constitutional amendments, after the illegal arrest of PTI MNAs on Sept 10 by the agents of agencies.

Earlier in the day, talking to journalists after the special committee meeting, Gohar said two of their MNAs were not in touch with them. “If the votes of our members with whom we are not in touch are cast, then we will not accept them. This committee has no job to discuss the law; we have not given any suggestion to the committee,” he added.

To a question, he said he could not tell what happened in the committee. “The law minister briefed us, whereas the bill is not with anyone at the moment,” he added.

Separately, Fazl also held meetings with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who was flanked by Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and Aijaz Jakhrani.

The JUIF chief also met PTI leaders Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Senator Shibli Faraz, Opposition Leader Omar Ayub and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser.

Speaking on Fazl’s high-stakes interactions, JUIF’s Kamran Murtaza said: “There have been some suggestions from the government which will be discussed with the party leaders.”

“All parties including the PTI should be taken into confidence on constitutional amendment,” he said, adding that the party would consider suggestions that it deems to be good.

Speaking to journalists at the Parliament House, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar ruled out any “person specific” legislation, reiterating the government’s commitment to ensure speedy justice for the people of Pakistan.

He attributed the delay in tabling of the constitutional package to ‘ongoing broad political consultation’, saying that JUIF chief Maulana Fazl was holding consultation with opposition lawmakers on “each clause of the proposed amendments”.

“It is difficult to proceed until extensive consultation is completed,” he said, noting that efforts were being made to reach a consensus.

Furthermore, Tarar said that it was decided in the Charter of Democracy that speedy justice would be ensured for the people of Pakistan. He also said that efforts were afoot to make progress today. The minister said the government did not intend to create misunderstanding on the clauses proposed in the amendment bill. “Once amendments are tabled in parliament, voting will be held on each clause separately,” he added.

Earlier, the minister said that reforms were overdue to give the people of Pakistan access to speedy justice, assuring that any legislation was to be done in the collective interest of the nation.

The minister remarked that many decades had passed with several cases awaiting trials and it was imperative to take measures for providing speedy justice to the people. He said that all coalition parties had representation in the special committee constituted for this purpose.

“The government is positive about the numbers game,” he said, adding that JUIF chief was an old ally and partner of the ruling coalition. He asked the media to wait for a short while to get good news in this regard.

The key aspect of the constitutional amendment is that unlike any other legislation, the government will need to secure a two-thirds majority in parliament to successfully execute it. In the lower house, the ruling coalition needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendment, whereas in the Senate the number stands at 64.

Currently, treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition’s 101 MNAs meaning that the government needs 13 more votes to pass the said constitutional amendment.

The ruling coalition comprises the PML-N (110), PPP (68), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (22), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (four), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (four), Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (one), Awami National Party (one) and Balochistan Awami Party (one).

The opposition comprises 80 MNAs of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which are supported by PTI-backed independent lawmakers.

The JUIF has eight members in the NA, whereas Balochistan National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Majlis-e-Wahdat-Muslimeen (MWM) have one MNA each in the NA. The ruling benches of the Senate, as per the publication, comprise PPP (24), PML-N (19), BAP (4) and MQM-P (3) in addition to four independent senators.

The total strength of the ruling benches stands at 54 as the government is short of nine votes in the Senate to pass the constitutional amendment.

As for the opposition benches in the Senate, PTI holds 17 seats, JUI-F (5) and ANP (3), while SIC, MWM, BNP, National Party and PML-Q have one seat each.

In addition to this, there is an independent senator on the opposition benches with the total number of opposition senators standing at 31.