Senator PTI Syed Ali Zafar berated the government during a Senate session that passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill. The senator told the government to keep its hands off the “Constitutional Bench. As it may appoint its own judges at important judicial positions,” Ary News reported.
Zafar said that this would result in undue pressure from the government in the selection of judges. He pointed out that the Constitutional Bench could now bypass the official process for electing the Chief Justice. Allowing the government to selectively favor its own judges.
This, he cautioned, was a loss to judicial independence and in due course of time, the government may pack the bench with benches of its choice and render the judiciary impotent.
The senator further accused members of parliament of not reading the bill well or understanding it when voting. He emphasized that constitutional amendments must focus on the people. But most lawmakers appeared to rush through the process without understanding its implications.
The Senate passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with a two-thirds majority on Sunday. It received 65 votes in favor while only four members voted against it. However, the bill had to face massive opposition- particularly from PTI, which has protested against it, claiming it could weaken the judicial powers. PTI leadership had claimed that the amendment would hand over the judiciary to the government.
The bill contains 27 clauses and seeks to amend several articles of the Constitution of Pakistan. The ruling government convinced Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to support the bill after the party initially protested against it. One of the major recommendations, moved by JUI-F, was added to the bill.
The National Assembly will now debate and approve the bill.
Earlier on Sunday, PTI’s political committee announced that it intended to boycott the vote on constitutional amendments in both the National Assembly and the Senate. The committee further appealed to the people for public protests against any PTI member found voting in favor of the bill. In its statement, PTI argued, “The current illegitimate government” does not possess moral, democratic, or constitutional authority to bring such amendments to the constitution.
ANI
