ISLAMABAD - The country’s parliament is obviously not witnessing constitutional amendment for the first time. The political maneuvering to achieve the magic figure seems to continue till the formal landing of ‘constitutional amendment’, after the approval from federal cabinet.
Though the timely apex court’s verdict created some confusion about the required ‘number game’, yet the veteran politicians from treasury benches are confident to complete the legal procedure on Sunday [today].
Some of the parleys of the delegations from both sides to chalk out strategy with their allies and even opponents were flashed on the media screen. The optics suggest that the government has completed its homework to defeat the opposition in the parliament for its proposed constitutional amendment to extend the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa.
As his retirement approaches on October 25, 2024, the government has prepared its legislative move to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court judges. This amendment, which most likely to be given legal cover today, would not only extend Justice Isa’s tenure but also be considered to reshape the judiciary’s structure for years to come.
The number game is in our hands. We [ruling partners] will easily give legal cover to the constitutional amendment on Sunday,” PML-N’s senior legislator Riaz Hussain Pirzada shared the government’s plan with this newspaper, mentioning that the support of independents and some others in the ranks of opposition is with them.
PML-N’s Senator Irfan Siddiqui , in his interaction with the media , claims to complete this legal chapter today [Sunday] by exhausting all the legal and procedural requirements. Over this confused political panorama in the country’s, former Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf shared with this scribe that this will not be done for the first time in the political history. “I don’t think the constitutional amendment can be bulldozed , it can be possible after a well thought process , so obviously all the legal requirements will be completed,” he commented, ostensibly avoiding going into details.
Albeit the media, quoting the senior ruling party’s members, highlighted that the proposed amendment would be introduced on Saturday, but this was not on the ‘Order of the day’ in the Saturday’s NationalAassembly session. The parliamentary sources, sharing the reason behind the one-day delay, said that around a dozen members from ruling party [PML-N] were not available to attend the proceedings. Likewise, two members from PML-Q and one from JUI-F were not in the town that became the one of the reasons behind the delay. These all members would, most probably, be reached in today’s proceedings, as normally the session is not summoned on Sunday despite any urgent requirement.
To pass such a constitutional amendment, the government needed a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, meaning they required 224 votes out of 336 seats. The ruling coalition – led by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party - holds 212 seats, leaving them 12 votes short, which it claims to achieve after getting support of JUI-F and some independent lawmakers. The figure of 41 members is also a mystery, as the government claims to get the support of them in this amendment.
On the other hand, the opposition, led by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies, are opposed to any move that extends the tenure of the Chief Justice. They claimed that their members would not support the government and JUI-F would also stand with them.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa is known for his firm stance on judicial independence and accountability.
If the government succeeds in passing the amendment, it would signal a major victory for the ruling coalition.