Leaders of opposition and government parties, including the PMLN, PPP, MQM-P, PTI and JUIF, on Sunday continued efforts to achieve consensus on a set of proposed constitutional amendments, with expectations of the legislation being tabled in Parliament after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
PTI leader Asad Qaiser told media that he had talked with JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the phone and forwarded a draft of the constitutional amendments to his party’s legal team. “It is quite a reasonable draft as it lacks legislation regarding violations of human rights,” he said, adding it did not call for any changes to Article 8 or Article 199.
Similarly, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari telephoned PMLN President Nawaz Sharif to discuss progress on efforts to shore up support for the constitutional package. Both leaders had earlier met last week to discuss the proposed amendments, with the PPP leader reportedly discussing concerns over the government securing sufficient numbers to pass the constitutional amendments. In the phone call, per local media, the two leaders exchanged views on their separate discussions with various political leaders to achieve consensus on drafts of the proposed legislation.
Also on Sunday, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal met a delegation of the MQM-P and assured them of support on a bill to empower local governments after the passage of the constitutional amendments package. In a joint press conference after their meeting, the minister hailed the MQM-P’s support to the government in economic matters and emphasized that no “democratic” party could oppose the proposed constitutional package.
“After the constitutional amendment, we will work on the MQM-P’s proposed amendment bill involving the local body governments,” he said, adding the PMLN and MQM-P would work together to achieve this.
The constitutional package, among other things, aims to set up a federal constitutional court, establish a parliamentary committee to appoint judges, and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan for three years. The government tried to present the legislation last month, but failed to secure sufficient numbers for its passage, triggering an ongoing consultation process.