Ministers of the federal government on Saturday claimed it had the required number of lawmakers to pass the much-touted 26th constitutional amendment come what may.
After multiple delays, the federal government is expected to meet today (Saturday) to mull the judicial reform package while the National Assembly and the Senate sessions are also to resume afterwards.
The Constitutional Package is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the extension of the chief justice’s term. A special parliamentary committee formed last month — which has the representation of all parties, including the PTI — has been discussing various proposals.
On October 11, the PPP made its proposals public, following which it and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) agreed on a shared draft of the amendments.
The federal cabinet was earlier scheduled to meet on Friday evening. However, it was later announced that a special cabinet meeting would take place on Saturday morning to approve the draft bill.
The 9:30am cabinet meeting today was again postponed till 10am, then till 12pm and was then supposed to meet at 2pm, seeing a total of four delays. The session has yet to begin.
According to a statement by the NA on its X account, yesterday’s session of the lower house of the parliament was adjourned till 3pm today. The Constitutional package is not part of the NA agenda, which was shared on X. NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq later changed the time for the assembly session to 7pm from 3pm.
The Senate session, initially set to resume at 12:30pm, was delayed to 3pm and then to 6pm, according to notifications issued by its secretariat.
Addressing a press conference at Parliament House, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the consultation process was still underway with the government striving to achieve a complete consensus on the issue.
Recounting the various political meetings occurring in the past few days, Tarar said: “Despite the numbers and homework being complete, the attempt was made not to stop the consultation process and achieve broader consensus because when a constitutional amendment takes place, it is our obligation to not only bring all political parties onboard but have a fruitful debate on every clause to take it to a logical conclusion.”
He reiterated that the consultation was “speedily under way” and was further hastened with the government aiming to complete it at any cost today. He claimed that no prior amendment was subject to as much debate as the current one.
“As Bilawal said yesterday. We have other options present but we are democratic-minded people and it is our effort to move forward on this matter after a complete consensus.”
He reiterated that there were “other options” present to the government and there was “no issue” in the number of lawmakers required to pass the package but democratic societies and people aimed to play their role in consensus building.
Bilawal’s huddles continue
In another bid to secure support from opposition parties, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari visited Fazl’s residence again today, where he also met with Balochistan National Party—Mengal (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal.
Other leaders from the three parties, including PPP’s Naveed Qamar and JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, were also present on the occasion, a PPP statement said.
Earlier, a PPP delegation led by Bilawal also called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad to discuss the “overall political situation”, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar also attended the meeting, the report added.
Mengal says no vote till lawmakers’ sons ‘returned’
On the other hand, BNP-M chief Mengal maintained his opposition to the amendments, declaring his party would not vote in favour until the sons of party senators Qasim Roonjho and Naseema Ehsan — allegedly abducted by authorities — were released.
Addressing the media in Islamabad after his meetings with Fazl and Bilawal, Mengal lamented that the constitutional amendments were being “kept secret” from lawmakers.
“The government has kept these amendments a secret from the public and we’re getting different drafts from different parties,” he said.
“But who is the creator of these amendments?” the BNP-M chief asked. “Is it the government, the coalition, the opposition? Or is it the elements who have always threatened the Constitution?
“We have never been a part of an amendment like this and we will not be a part of this,” Mengal declared. “It does not matter how many amendments there are, we will see them and decide on them, but only once our people are returned,” he added, noting that his party was part of the same opposition alliance as the PTI.
“I asked what the amendments are and neither the prime minister nor the deputy prime minister sent me a draft. Two of our senators have faced intimidation and threats. I said ‘we did not take part in politics at gunpoint during General Musharraf’s time’. We will not do it now either.”
Consensus status
While the government earlier seemed confident of introducing the amendment draft in the Senate on Friday, the plans did not materialise after Fazl threatened to walk out of negotiations over alleged harassment of opposition lawmakers to secure support for the bill.
PPP’s Syed Khursheed Shah, who is spearheading the special parliamentary committee, claimed earlier on Friday that a “unanimous” consensus had been achieved within the body.
However, Bilawal later warned that if political parties in the parliament did not reach a consensus, he would push the amendment through parliament using a brute, or two-thirds, majority with coalition ally PML-N.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said his party was close to reaching a consensus with the JUI-F. MNA Malik Amir Dogar said the PTI would make its decision only after consulting its incarcerated founder Imran Khan, who the PTI leaders met at Adiala Jail today.
Gohar, while speaking to the reporters after the meeting, said the PTI leadership will meet Fazl and update the press alongside the JUI-F chief.
The proposed tweaks are aimed at taking away the Supreme Court’s suo motu powers, setting the chief justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) term at three years and empowering the prime minister to appoint the next CJP from among the three most senior SC judges.
A major bone of contention was a proposed Federal Constitutional Court, which the PTI opposed and Fazl demanded a constitutional bench instead, which the draft now reportedly mentions.
An earlier attempt last month by the ruling PML-N to bulldoze the amendments did not succeed as it failed to win over the JUI-F and the legislation could not be tabled despite houses being in session.
Fazl mediates amid ‘duress’ allegations
Friday saw Fazl’s residence become the centre of attention as opposition leaders and members of the ruling coalition held simultaneous discussions with him, with Bilawal meeting with the JUI-F chief three times within 24 hours.
Fazl has been playing a key mediating role as the opposition voices concerns about the proposed amendments as well as alleges intimidation of its lawmakers for their support for the draft.
The PTI has claimed that its members were being offered up to Rs3 billion for their support of the amendments.
Mengal has also alleged that two senators from his party, including a woman, were being “mistreated” to secure their votes for the proposed tweaks.
BNP-M’s Naseema Ehsan, who attended a Senate sitting on Thursday, was so disturbed that she found it difficult to narrate details and just said: “The sanctity of chador and chaar diwari has been violated.”
Protests against the alleged harassment continued in both houses of the parliament on Friday, with JUI-F lawmakers giving the most hard-hitting speeches as they vowed not to vote for the amendments bill under “duress”.
