ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was prorogued on Monday without taking up the much-hyped “constitutional package” due to failure of the ruling alliance to woo opposition’s support for passage of the proposed constitutional amendment.

All the efforts by the government to persuade the opposition, particularly Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), remained unsuccessful to get the required numerical strength for passage of the constitutional amendment and the government once again invited all the opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to evolve a broader consensus prior to tabling the package in the next session.

For the purpose, the Special Committee of the Parliament, headed by Syed Khursheed Shah, will continue to deliberate on the proposed draft of the constitutional amendment and to evolve consensus by taking input from all the political parties.

Speaking on the floor of the House in response to the opposition lawmakers’ reservations on Monday, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar explained that the draft of the proposed amendment has yet not been finalised.

He said that the package is a set of amendments to the Constitution and as per procedure, a constitutional amendment first needed to be cleared by the federal cabinet.

He said that the proposed package has yet not been presented before the federal cabinet as a draft nor in the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC).

The minister said that the process of talks has been initiated with all the political parties in the Parliament on the proposed constitutional package, adding that efforts would be made to evolve consensus on the document.

He urged the opposition parties to come up with positive recommendations instead of undue criticisms, assuring that these would be accommodated in the proposed constitutional package.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024