ISLAMABAD: The government once again failed to woo opposition for supporting the proposed “constitutional package”, as the much hyped Sunday’s session of the National Assembly was adjourned till today (Monday) at 12:30 pm, minutes after it started 12 and a half hours late following the whole day meetings.

The House which was initially scheduled to start its session at 11:30 am got delayed till 4:00 pm and then deferred till 8:00 pm while the government team continued to hold meeting after meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in a bid to woo his party’s support for the constitutional amendment.

As the House began its sitting at 11:00 am with Ayaz Sadiq in the chair, PML-N lawmaker Bilal Kayani, under of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House, 2007, moved to suspend requirements of rules 18, 69 and 88 in respect of matters other than points of order, question hour and calling attention notices for the September 15 and 16.

PM takes ruling MPs into confidence

The motion was passed and consequently the chair adjourned the House till today (Monday) at 12:30 pm without taking any agenda item and the much hyped the constitutional amendments aimed at increasing age limit of the superior courts’ judges, formation of the “constitutional court” and other related matters.

Sources said that the proposed constitutional amendment with input from the opposition will now be presented before the House today for passage, as efforts will be made to evolve consensus.

The special parliamentary committee, headed by Syed Khurshid Shah of PPP, with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and other members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in attendance, also deliberated upon the proposed constitutional amendment.

Talking to reporters, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the sittings of the two houses were adjourned due to lack of numerical strength of two third majority for passage of the constitutional amendment.

He said that so far, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has not assured his support for constitutional amendment, adding that efforts will be made to woo his party’s support. “Let’s see tomorrow as what will come out of the ongoing deliberations,” the minister said.

He further stated that efforts are also underway with the independent candidates to get support for constitutional package.

On the other hand, according to the sources, Maulana has raised objections over a couple of clauses of the “constitutional package”, including the extension of judges’ tenure and increase in their retirement age, leaving the government-proposed constitutional amendment package hanging in the balance.

The sources said that some conditions of Maulana has created a major hurdle for the ruling coalition, which has been scrambling to secure enough support to push the amendments aimed at making major changes to Pakistan’s judicial and parliamentary systems through parliament.

According to sources in opposition parties including the PTI, along with some government allies, have given conditional backing for the formation of a “constitutional court”, while they remain divided on the issue of judges’ extension.

Maulana had become the center of political gravity, as the government and its allies and major opposition party, PTI held multiple separate meetings with the JUI-F chief to get his party support.

The government needs a two-third majority both in the National Assembly and the Senate for the passage of the “constitutional package”.

In the National Assembly, the ruling coalition needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendment, whereas, in the Senate the number stands at 64.

In the National Assembly, the treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition’s 101 lawmakers meaning that the government needs 13 more votes to pass the constitutional amendment package.

The ruling coalition comprises the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) 110; Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) 68; Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) 22; Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) four; Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) four; and one each by Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Awami National Party (ANP) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). Whereas, the opposition comprises 80 MNAs of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which is supported by the PTI-backed independent lawmakers and eight members of the JUI-F.

Though, the government had been tight-lipped on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, but clarified that the package will not be a person-specific.

The reported proposed amendments also include setting up of a constitutional court, a merger of the judicial and parliamentary commissions responsible for the selection of judges, as well as 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.

The package 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.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024