Daily Times

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the National Assembly on Monday that a controversial ‘Constitutional Package’ has not been presented before the federal cabinet yet.

The package is a set of amendments to the Constitution, one of which will aim to fix the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years.

The legislation was previously expected to be introduced in the National Assembly and the Senate on Monday, after the government failed to table it over the weekend as previously scheduled despite hectic efforts to garner the required support.

Speaking on the floor of the lower house, Tarar said the proposed amendments had “not yet been presented before the federal cabinet as a draft nor in the CCLC (Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases)”.

As per procedure, a constitutional amendment first needs to be cleared by the federal cabinet.

While the Senate session scheduled for 12:30pm convened on Monday and was later prorogued, Radio Pakistan reported, the NA session began at around 1pm.

The proposed legislation, which had been kept out of the public eye, much to the chagrin of the opposition as well as government allies, was eventually discussed at the special parliamentary committee’s meeting on Sunday in a bid to take the opposition on board.

The PTI, which has complained that no draft of the legislation was presented in the three-hour-long meeting, has made “all possible efforts” to stop the government from introducing the package.

According to media reports, if the government manages to secure Fazl’s support, it would barely just get the required 64 votes in the Senate, given that the Awami National Party also votes in favour.

However, the situation in the NA would likely still be tricky as even with the JUI-F’s potential support, it would fall short of three votes.

Responding to the points raised by PTI’s Asad Qaiser in NA, Tarar said the process of talks has been started with the parliamentary parties in both houses on the constitutional package, Radio Pakistan reported.

Stating that the government would seek to build consensus on the matter, the minister asked the opposition parties to come up with positive recommendations instead of undue criticisms, assuring them that those would be accommodated.

Detailing the process to pass a constitutional amendment, Tarar said it is to be first approved by the federal cabinet, after which the CCLC – which he said comprised of all coalition partners – reviewed the legislation thoroughly.

After the federal cabinet green-lights it, it was then the government’s prerogative whether to introduce the bill in the NA or the Senate, Tarar added.

When the NA session finally convened, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the much-touted legislation was, in the ruling coalition’s opinion, an “attempt to correct constitutional imbalances, especially regarding the parliament”.

“It is an attempt to undo the 19th Amendment,” Asif added, referring to legislation that envisaged a new system for appointments in the superior courts.

“There is no politics in this,” the PML-N minister asserted.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui of the ruling PML-N said sessions of both houses “would next be called when we would be prepared from all angles to introduce a constitutional amendment”.

“It was our wish that this [legislation is passed] within two days […],” the senator told Geo News today.

Asked if it was possible for the matter to be delayed for months, the PML-N senator replied in the negative, adding that in his opinion, the legislation would be tabled within a week or two.

Speaking about discussions held yesterday with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Siddiqui described the politician as “very flexible.”