Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman “completely rejected” the government’s proposed constitutional reforms on Wednesday, Aaj News reported.
The head of JUI-F attended a luncheon meeting at PTI leader Asad Qaiser’s home to discuss the constitutional amendments being proposed by the government and its allied parties.
NA prorogued as govt fails to persuade opposition
The National Assembly was prorogued on Monday without taking up the much-hyped “constitutional package” due to the failure of the ruling alliance to woo the opposition’s support for passage of the proposed constitutional amendment.
All the efforts by the government to persuade the opposition, particularly JUI-F, remained unsuccessful in getting the required numerical strength for passage of the constitutional amendment.
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The planned amendment is expected to change the procedure of appointment of judges to the superior judiciary and merge the parliamentary committee on the judiciary with the Judicial Commission.
After the meeting, Asad Qaiser said Maulana Fazlur Rehman had rejected the draft changes completely. Asad Qaiser hosted the luncheon in Fazl’s honour. Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the chairman of the PTI, former president Arif Alvi, and other PTI leaders were also present.
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Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that “the draft of the proposed amendments, provided to the opposition, was not acceptable in any way” in response to a question from a journalist.
“If we had backed the constitutional package, it would have been the biggest betrayal of the people’s confidence,” he continued.
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He went on to say that after reviewing the proposal, we decided not to back it. “They had given different proposals to different individuals,” he said.
According to him, the government is currently claiming that they have no proposals.
“Who had submitted the one they did have?” he asked.