ISLAMABAD - The parliamentary leaders in the government coalition have directed the party parliamentarians abroad to return home by October 15 as the government is going to take another attempt for the passage of controversial constitutional amendments by the parliament soon after the SCO Summit, sources said yesterday.
The political parties are currently engaged in consultations on the subject and different parties from both sides of the aisle are preparing draft amendments so as to share with other political parties before coming to a consensus point. Interestingly, the government is yet to make public the details of the constitutional amendments it wants to pass before October 25, the day of retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faze Isa.
Several senators and the National Assembly members are presently out of the country, the sources said. “More than 10 lawmakers of the treasury are out of the country at the moment,” the sources said. PML-N’s Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and PPP veteran Syed Khursheed Shah have been among the MNAs currently out of Pakistan, according to the sources.
Similarly, Senator Rana Mehmood ul Hassan of the Pakistan People’s Party and BAP’s Dinesh Kumar, PML-Q’s Hussain Illahi and Senator Abdul Qadir are also on foreign visits. The government intends to pass the amendments soon after October 16 due to the SCO Summit. The opposition party PTI has announced to oppose the proposed amendments in the Constitution, saying the package is aimed at undermining the judiciary.