ISLAMABAD: As the incumbent government continues efforts to introduce a proposed ‘constitutional package’ that will reportedly give authorities ingress in the judicial procedure, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has asserted that they have achieved the magic number in both upper and lower houses of parliament for the passage of the much-touted constitutional amendment.
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.
The government has been tight-lipped on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, but clarified that the package will not be person-specific and would give the authorities ingress in the judicial procedure.
Its key points likely include the setting up of a constitutional court, a merger of the judicial and parliamentary commissions responsible for the selection of judges, as well as 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.
As per a report published in The News, a consensus on increasing the retirement age of superior court judges has not yet been formalised, with the PTI vowing to launch a countrywide protest if the age limit of Supreme Court and high court judges is revised.
Speaking to Geo News exclusively, Asif said they have completed the numbers game for the constitutional amendment, also claiming the support of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl Rehman after “his reservations are removed”.
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“Apart from Maulana Fazl and coalition parties, some other votes will be secured,” the federal minister said without divulging into details. “They are not legally or constitutionally bound to any party.”
He hoped the ‘constitutional package’ would be adopted today, adding that its passage would improve the parliament’s environment.
In response to a question regarding the Supreme Court’s clarification on reserved seats verdict issued a day earlier, the defence czar said: “We will be successful despite the apex court’s statement favouring the opposition.”
He castigated the July 12 reserved seats verdict, terming the apex court’s decision ‘an attempt’ to block the way for the constitutional amendment.
Giving details of the package, Asif said it includes the formation of constitutional court and an increase in the number of judges in superior courts.
Today’s National Assembly (NA) session was initially slated for 11:30am but then changed to 4pm on a Special Parliamentary Committee’s request made to the NA speaker.
However, the session was unable to start even at the revised time and now sources claimed that it will likely to be started at 8pm.
Similarly, the Senate session slated for 4pm was rescheduled to 7pm, according to a notification from the Senate secretariat.
Proposed constitutional amendments
Meanwhile, Geo News has obtained the details of a ‘closely-guarded’ constitutional amendment bill — which sources claimed that it contains more than 20 clauses aiming to introduce major changes in Pakistan’s judicial and parliamentary systems.
The bill proposes amendments to Articles 51, 63, 175, 181 and 187 of the Constitution of Pakistan. It also includes the amendment to increase the representation of the Balochistan Assembly from 65 seats to 81.
It also proposed 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 will be appointed by the judges, sources added.
Furthermore, inter-provisional transfer of high court judges has also been proposed.
Another important amendment proposed in the bill sought appointment of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) through a five-member panel comprising top court judges.
A merger of the judicial and parliamentary commissions responsible for the selection of judges sought in the amendments.
The number crunch
The key aspect of the constitutional amendment is that unlike any other legislation, the government will need to secure a two-thirds majority in the 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); the 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).
Meanwhile, the opposition comprises 80 MNAs of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which are supported by PTI-backed independent lawmakers.
The JUI-F 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 as well on the opposition benches with the total number of opposition senators standing at 31.
