ISLAMABAD   -  The ruling coalition in the centre on Saturday for the first time unveiled contours of its much-awaited and controversial ‘Constitutional Package’ before the Senate, saying it plans to establish a constitutional court and undo a Supreme Court judgment barring lawmakers not to vote while crossing the floor.

Another proposal is that the chief election commissioner and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan should continue in their positions till the appointment of their successors.

Speaking in the house, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said the government wanted to materialize the years old idea of a separate constitutional court, other than the Supreme Court, through the upcoming constitutional amendment bill. This will lessen workload on the apex court where 60,000 cases including 25 percent constitutional petitions are pending, he added.

Senator Dar, who also holds portfolios of the Foreign Minister and Leader of the House in the Senate, argued that Article 4 of the constitutional also demanded formation of such a court, which was also agreed upon in the Charter of Democracy signed between his party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in London in 2006. Later, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan and other parties had become a signatory to it, he emphasized.

“We want to fix this problem which has been pending for 18 years … and why not if we can divide this workload (of the SC). It is never too late,” he said, rejecting the leader of the opposition’s assertion that the government was keeping things under wraps about the constitutional amendment bill.

The upper house, which was especially summoned by the government over the weekend to table the constitutional amendment bill, was adjourned till today (Sunday) without being tabled any such draft, sparking speculations that ruling parties still lacked the required two-third majority in both houses of the parliament.

Dar said the opposition leader was wrong in saying that the government was hiding details about its Constitutional Package and added that major proposals were being discussed in the special parliamentary committee recently formed after September 9 arrests of PTI MNAs from the Parliament House. PTI is part of the committee, he added.

The leader of the house said the government was ready to withdraw a proposal of extending retirement age of judges of the superior judiciary on the suggestion of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, which was endorsed by other members of the special committee. “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.”

Divulging other details, he said a proposal was that the chief election commissioner (CEC) and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should continue in their positions till the appointment of their successors, indicating that the incumbent CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja will continue even after completion of his five-year tenure that would end in January 2025.

The deputy PM said there was provision in other constitutional positions that they would continue till their successors arrive. He explained that a mechanism of appointment of CEC and members of the electoral watchdog was decided in the 18th Constitutional Amendment but the ECP remained dysfunctional for 17 months in the past due to an anemology and this needed to be addressed.

Another major proposal is, Dar said, the government wanted to bring some changes in Article 63-A of  the constitution to undo a decision of the Supreme Court, which says that any lawmaker would not only lose its membership but also his vote not be counted if he crosses the floor in violation of his party’s direction in certain conditions. Calling the decision strange, he said the punishment described in actual Article 63-A only applied if the lawmaker crosses the floor and questioned how he can lose the membership for an offence he has not committed.

“I am not privy to the entire bill… I am just giving the pulse,” the leader of the house said, inviting the opposition to come and help them in bringing judicial reforms in the country to make the justice system more quick and accessible for the public.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz speaking in the house said that the ruling coalition was so far hiding the outlines of the constitutional amendment bill from the lawmakers, which was contrary to parliamentary norms. He alleged that the government lacked two-third majority to get it passed and was forcing the members of PTI to change their loyalties and doing all this in haste. “You are bringing an amendment in the constitution and have not shared the proposed bill with your allies, the members and the opposition,” he said.

The opposition leader again accused the government for remaining mysterious on the proposed bill and questioned the reason behind summoning the session on an official holiday. He deplored that PPP, which claims to be a champion of democracy, was also getting itself involved in the process that would have a political price to pay for the party. “We have never seen such fear and confusion that prevails in the parliament.”

Senator Faraz said that any changes in the structure of the constitution demanded legitimacy, which the incumbent government lacked.

He sought details of the amendment bill, if the government is doing it for “the betterment of the country.”