Constitution of Pakistan in the constitutional package and why the opposition to it

Hum Gawah Islamabad 4 hours ago news
What are the proposed amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan in the ‘constitutional package’ and why the opposition to it?

The constitutional amendments are likely to be approved in the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after which they will be presented in the lower house of the parliament, the National Assembly. The government of PML-N and its allied parties will need a two-thirds majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate to approve this constitutional amendment.

There is a possibility of presenting a ‘constitutional package’ in the Parliament of Pakistan, but there have been rumors in the country for several days that the government intends to reform the judiciary. These include the proposal to increase the retirement age of the judges of the higher judiciary, including the current Chief Justice of the country, Qazi Faiz Isa.

Along with this, the judicial commission for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary and the reorganization of the parliamentary commission for the appointment of judges are also under consideration.

According to local media, the federal government wanted to present the 26th constitutional amendment in both houses of the parliament on Saturday, but due to insufficient numbers, it is likely to be presented in the National Assembly and Senate sessions on Sunday.

However, according to an official in the ruling coalition, the government currently does not have the required numbers to approve the constitutional amendment.

On the other hand, Barrister Gauhar, head of the opposition party Tehreek-e-Insaf, has termed these reforms as ‘unconstitutional amendments’ and has also objected that these amendments are being made public on Sunday, a holiday.

Number required for constitutional amendment

The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan has been amended 25 times so far. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority from both houses of parliament, ie 224 votes in the National Assembly and 64 votes in the Senate.

Currently, the various political parties in the ruling coalition have the support of 214 members in the National Assembly, while the government needs 10 more votes for a two-thirds majority. According to reports, the government is facing a shortfall of one vote in the Senate.

To meet these numbers, the ruling alliance is meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rahman, head of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam, which has six members in the National Assembly.

If Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s party also supports this constitutional amendment, then the government will need three to four more votes, about which the members of the political parties in the ruling coalition are reluctant to say anything.

Apparently, it seems that the government does not have the required numbers yet, so the timing of the National Assembly session has been changed.

In the agenda of the meeting which was issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the meeting of the National Assembly was supposed to start at 11:30 a.m. However, now the time of this meeting has been changed to four o’clock in the evening.

The agenda issued for this meeting does not mention the presentation of constitutional amendments. While the government claims that the supplementary agenda of the National Assembly will be issued to present the constitutional amendment.

There is a question in the minds of the people that why the session of the National Assembly has been called on a holiday? Journalist Siddique Sajid, who supervises parliamentary affairs, said that there is no provision in the constitution that the National Assembly cannot be held on a holiday.

He said that the Speaker has the power to call the National Assembly session whenever he wants and for as long as he wants.

He said that this initiative of the Speaker cannot be challenged anywhere.

What is a constitutional amendment and why does the government need it?

Prime Minister Nazir Tarar has said several times that the government wants to submit a bill related to judicial reforms in the National Assembly and according to the federal law minister, such a move would be necessary to reform the judiciary as well as dispose of pending cases quickly and make the Supreme Court chief. Including the package of appointment of other judges including Justiceare

A constitutional amendment likely to be tabled in Parliament by the government proposes to increase the age of judges in the higher judiciary from 65 years to 68 years.

Apart from this, it has also been mentioned to create a constitutional court in which only constitutional matters will be referred and along with this a proposal is being made to change the formation of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Judges.

The government claims that the purpose of creating a constitutional court is to provide relief to the Cylians.

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In the current system of appointment of judges, the Supreme Judicial Council approves the appointment of any person as a judge in the High Court or the Supreme Court. It is then referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments to High Courts for approval.

Concerns have been expressed several times by the members of this committee that their role in this regard is that of a rubber stamp because if they object to the name of any person sent by the Judicial Commission, they are given a written notice. Accordingly, the Commission has to be informed about this and also provide evidencewill

However, the Supreme Court has to take the final decision regarding these objections and evidence.

Apart from this, three names will be sent for the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, out of which one judge will be appointed to the post of Chief Justice for a term of three years.

According to the decision given by the Supreme Court on the request of Wahab Al Khairi, the most senior judge will be made the Chief Justice of the country.

It is not being fully implemented in various High Courts of the country, the recent example of which is the appointment of Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Judge Justice Adlia Neelam, fourth in seniority, was appointed Chief Justice of Lahore High Court.

Opposition to constitutional amendment

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Tehreek-e-Insaf has strongly opposed these possible reforms.

Hamid Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf in Pakistan’s upper house i.e. Senate, says that members of the ruling coalition claim every day that they are bringing constitutional amendments, but then they backtrack.

Speaking to BBC, he said that this is not the environment to bring constitutional amendments. He said that how can the controversial assembly make constitutional reforms and the ruling coalition does not have enough numbers to bring constitutional amendments.

He said that his party will openly oppose this constitutional amendment and in this context he has informed his members in writing that he will not support this constitutional amendment.

According to him, if anyone tries to do so, the decision of the Supreme Court regarding Article 63A of the Constitution will be applied, according to which one, their votes will not be counted and the other is that their membership of the parliament will also be terminated. will

It should be noted that the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Umar Atta Bandial gave a majority opinion on the presidential reference regarding 63A that if any member votes in the parliamentary legislation contrary to the instructions of the parliamentary leader, neither his The vote will be counted, but his membership of the Assembly will also be terminated.

The government has filed a review appeal against this court decision, which has been over a year, but the appeal has not yet been scheduled for hearing.

According to Hamid Khan, Imran Khan has said while talking to the media representatives in the jail that the government is going to pass legislation to extend the tenure of the current Chief Justice of the country and if this happens, he will protest to his party. Will call.

On the other hand, the former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Retired Faisal Arab, says that apparently these constitutional amendments ‘seem to be person-specific’.

Talking to BBC, he said that if the government implements these amendments to the judges coming to the Supreme Court after the approval of this constitutional amendment, then it is fine, otherwise these amendments will be controversial in such circumstances. .

He said that the conditions of the country are not normal, in this the matter will go to the direction that the government is bringing these amendments for a single individual.

Justice Retired Faisal Arab said that many sensitive matters of the government are pending in the Supreme Court and bringing a constitutional package in such situations will lead to further deterioration of the situation in the country instead of normalization.

It should be noted that the present Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa has said that he is not in favor of ‘Person Specific’ legislation.

Hum Gawah Islamabad