Declaring the 26th constitutional amendment an “attack” on the independence of the judiciary, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Monday alleged aimed to facilitate the elite and did not benefit the common man.
In an address on the floor of the KP Assembly, Gandapur slammed the ruling coalition, claiming a government lacking “a legal mandate” had “attacked” the judiciary, referring to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s claims of the incumbent government at the center coming into power via electoral rigging.
Vowing the PTI would revoke the “contentious” constitutional amendment whenever it returned to power in Islamabad, the PTI leader claimed his party would only enact constitutional amendments aimed at benefiting the people.
During his address, Gandapur also hit out at his party’s dissident lawmakers who supported the constitutional amendment in the Lower House, saying they should have resigned rather than voting for an “unconstitutional amendment.” He maintained the nation would hold them accountable for their decision. While the PTI had initially claimed 11 of its lawmakers were incommunicado and had switched loyalties, only four PTI-backed independent candidates voted for the constitutional amendment: Zahoor Qureshi, Aurangzeb Khichi, Usman Ali, and Mubarak Zeb.
The KP chief minister asserted that the PTI’s “difficult” times had “exposed” all “traitors, cowards and conscience” sellers. “We and the nation will also seek answer from the traitors,” he claimed, warning that the PTI would launch a street agitation if Justice Mansoor Ali Shah were not appointed the next chief justice of Pakistan.
Also on Monday, a press conference of the PTI leadership in Lahore vowed to launch a “decisive” movement for the revocation of the 26th constitutional amendment. “The current situation demands a mass protest movement” beyond just the PTI, claimed Secretary General Salman Akram Raja.
Criticizing the changes brought to the judiciary, he claimed the judges in the constitutional bench proposed by the amendment would “be controlled by the oppressors.” Declaring the amendment a “direct attack” on the Constitution, he asserted it had made Pakistanis “slaves.”
To a question on Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah desiring constitutional courts, Raja claimed the comparison no longer applied as Pakistan had achieved judicial independence. He also dismissed the Charter of Democracy—to which PTI founder Imran Khan was a subsequent signatory—a “mere agreement” between two political parties.
During his press talk, Raja also criticized PTI-backed lawmakers who voted in favor of the constitutional amendment, vowing strict action against them. He also rejected reports of a forward bloc within the party.