- Govt set to present draft of proposed amendments in Senate today.
- Meeting of upper house of parliament to take place at 12:30pm
- Bilawal warns of “brute majority” legislation on proposed changes.
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet is set to hold a meeting later today (Saturday) to discuss the much-hyped constitutional amendments following the approval of its draft after month-long deliberations.
After numerous political twists and turns, the government and opposition members unanimously approved the proposed 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The announcement was made after the special committee formed to debate the contentious judicial package met under the chairmanship of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah.
Leaders from all major political parties, except for Awami National Party’s Aimal Wali Khan, were present in the meeting.
The draft envisages formation constitutional bench, parliamentary role in appointment of chief justice of the Supreme Court from list of three judges, restructuring of Judicial Council as well as Supreme Judicial Council, and fixing the three years tenure of chief justice.
If the cabinet approves the draft of the proposed amendments, it will be presented in Senate for approval.
The meeting of the upper house of parliament is slated to take place at 12:30pm, with govt poised to introduce the constitutional amendments.
As per Shah, everyone including the key opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) agreed on the draft that was put forward point to point, though no one has signed it yet.
However, the Imran Khan-founded party dispelled that the impression that they unanimously approved the draft.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Friday night said that consultation on the fourth draft shared by the government was still underway, adding that they would make final decision on the Constitutional Package after meeting with their party founder, who is currently incarcerated in Adiala Jail in multiple cases.
Responding to PTI’s reservations, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has warned said that he will be compelled to take “controversial path” for the passage of the amendments if the opposition parties refused to support his efforts to pass the judicial package with consensus.
“If the opposition still refuses to support us despite so many compromises then I will be compelled to pass the amendment with the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the extra members,” the PPP chief said.
Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) has said that the rulers cannot force the party’s parliamentarians to vote in favour of the amendment.
“If the government continues to use coercive tactics we will never support the constitutional amendment even if our bodies are cut to pieces,” Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said during the debate on the proposed amendments in the National Assembly.
To pass the constitutional amendments, the government needs two-thirds majority in parliament, with sources claiming that it was short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate.
Last month, the coalition government made a futile attempt to pass the constitutional package. However, the government failed to even table the amendments in parliament after the JUI-F chief refused to support the government’s judicial package, leaving the contentious amendments hanging in the balance.
The PPP leader, last week, said that the government had the option to secure the magic number under “conscience voting”.
“Despite this, efforts are being made to reach a consensus,” Bilawal had added.
It is pertinent to mention here that the top court on October 4 set aside its earlier opinion on Article 63(A) — a clause which deals with defection by lawmakers — as a five-member bench led by CJP Isa unanimously allowed a review petition, filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association.
The move paved the way for defecting votes to be counted.
