PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Tuesday vowed to strongly oppose the proposed “anti-judiciary” legislation, labelling it an “attack on democracy” as the political standoff over the “controversial” constitutional package escalates.
As the opposition has upped the ante of its efforts against the disputed legislation, the government remains adamant on tabling the constitutional amendment bill to modify the judicial and parliamentary systems.
Despite tall claims of securing the “magic number” required to railroad the bill, the government seems unable to table the amendments in the parliament, for now, lacking JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s support.
The government pushed the proposed constitutional amendments amid speculation about a potential extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October this year, following the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) request last month for the early issuance of a notification regarding the appointment of the next top judge.
After efforts to convince the JUI-F head to lend his support failed, senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui told media earlier that the government’s bid to table the constitutional package had been “postponed indefinitely”.
“How did they think they could bring such a bill in a democracy?” KP CM Gandapur said speaking to journalists.
Terming the bill “an attack on democracy”, the provincial chief executive vowed to defeat the gov-ernment in the parliament. “We stand by the judiciary […] We will stand firm for our legitimate rights.”
“They [government] won’t even be able to table the proposed amendments, let alone pass them through parliament,” the chief minister said, pledging to move all constitutional avenues to stymie such legislation.
The government has mostly kept the proposed amendments under wraps; however, they did clarify that the package would not be person-specific.
The key points of the bill likely include the establishment of a constitutional court, the merging of the judicial and parliamentary commissions responsible for selecting judges, and an amendment to Article 63-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, which addresses the disqualification of parliament members on grounds of defection.
Additionally, the modifications allegedly propose extending the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and increasing the retirement age of judges.
It is important to note that, unlike any regular legislation, the government will require a two-thirds ma-jority in parliament to pass these constitutional amendments.
Currently, in the National Assembly, the government is short of 13 votes, and in the Senate, it lacks nine votes to pass the proposed amendments. –Agencies
