• Dar reveals amendment to Article 63-A, formation of constitutional courts, ‘technical’ extension to CEC
• Govt to table amendments in National Assembly, Senate today; also intends to gain presidential assent
• Insider claims numbers game ‘sorted’ in both houses, cites ‘strategic reasons’ behind delay
ISLAMABAD: The proposed constitutional package — a closely guarded secret — which was likely to be tabled in both houses of parliament on Saturday, has been put on hold by the ruling coalition till today (Sunday) for ‘strategic reasons’ emanating from the hurdles in mustering up the two-thirds majority in both houses.
Though no explanation for the delay in the introduction of the set of constitutional amendments came from the government, an informed source in the ruling coalition said the delay had “something to do with the numbers game” in the Senate. He explained that the government was short of one member in the Senate, where 64 votes were required for the amendment.
The Senate chairman, a PPP member, cannot vote.
As far as the National Assembly is concerned where the coalition needs several lawmakers to meet the two-thirds threshold of 224, the source said everything was in order in the lower house, particularly after the oath-taking of PPP’s Makhdoom Tahir Rashid from NA-171. “Things have been managed and the [constitutional] package will be passed by both houses on Sunday,” the source seemed assured.
When asked why the bill was not tabled in the National Assembly if the government had the required strength, the insider cited ‘strategic reasons’. “We want it to be passed from both houses the same day as a matter of strategy,” the source added. The strategy includes some sacrifices. “A few of them will have to render sacrifices,” he said in a probable reference to the disqualification that voting against the party lines entailed. The votes, however, will be counted under a proposed amendment, which might have retrospective effect. “Things have been managed now and the package will be passed by both the houses on Sunday,” he said confidently.
Parts of package
The constitutional package has remained a guarded secret, without any official word on its contents, amid speculations that the government plans to give extension to the top judge.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday shared parts of the package with the upper house, which included an amendment to Article 63-A of the Constitution, dealing with disqualification of those who cross party line in voting for a constitutional amendment. He explained that under the amendment, the vote of the members against whom a disqualification reference was filed by their party leadership would be counted.
Under another amendment, the incumbent chief election commissioner will continue to hold office, till his successor comes in. Senator Dar also said constitutional courts would be established to adjudicate upon constitutional petitions.
Ishaq Dar, who is also leader of the house in the Senate, recalled that under the ‘Charter of Democracy’ signed between two former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif on May 14, 2006, a decision had been taken to establish constitutional courts to dispose of constitutional petitions. He said a few weeks later, all political parties were invited and they endorsed the same. He said those who agreed and signed the document also included PTI leader Imran Khan.
Mr Dar pointed out that there were 60,000 cases pending before the Supreme Court, 25 percent of which were constitutional petitions. “We want to fix this problem pending for 18 years and why not if we can divide this workload. It is never too late,” he remarked.
About the decision to amend Article 63-A of the Constitution, he claimed that the SC bench headed by the then chief justice Umar Ata Bandial had misinterpreted the article, when he decided that the votes of those who went against the party lines on matters entailing disqualification would not be counted.
About the continuation of the chief election commissioner even after completing his five-year term, he recalled how the ECP remained dysfunctional for 17 months in the past.
“I am not privy to the entire bill… I am just giving the pulse,” the leader of the house said, inviting the opposition to help them in bringing judicial reforms in the country. He urged there was a need to bring changes in the laws to make court decisions time bound. “We will get nothing by entering into blame game,” he remarked.
The foreign minister said opposition leader was wrong in saying that the government was hiding the details of its Constitutional Package and added that the major proposals were being discussed in special parliamentary committee recently formed after September 9 arrests of PTI MNAs from Parliament House and the PTI was part of the consultations.
“We are not hiding things but every government has its own strategy.”
The leader of the house indicated that the government was ready to withdraw a proposal of extending retirement age of judges on the suggestion of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, which was endorsed by other members of the special committees.
“In the meeting, I advised the law minister not to extend the age if there is a categorical feeling that this is being done to oblige someone,” he said. An informed source, however, claimed that the amendment to increase the retirement age of superior court judges was still part of the package.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz, while addressing the house, said that the ruling coalition was so far hiding the contours of the proposed constitutional amendments from the lawmakers.
“In the normal circumstances, you sell your proposed legislation to the public and the legislators,” he observed. He however said the proposal to make structural changes in the constitution was kept as a secret as the intent was mala fide. He alleged that the government lacked two-thirds majority to get it passed and was forcing the members of PTI to change their loyalties.
The opposition leader alleged that the government has added to the “mystery” surrounding the proposed law and questioned the reason behind the summoning of the session on an official holiday.
He deplored that PPP, which was a champion of democracy, was also getting itself involved in the process and warned that “it will have to pay a political price” for it.
Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024
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