The government was unable to table its much-hyped constitutional amendment package in Parliament on Sunday, as both treasury and opposition lawmakers continued attempts to woo Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who refused to commit to supporting either side.
In recent weeks, the government has been scrambling to secure sufficient numbers to push through a raft of constitutional amendments, which require two-thirds majority of Pakistan. The proposed amendments, most of which were kept secret until Sunday evening, seek to enact major changes to the judicial and parliamentary systems, with critics accusing the government of infringing on the independence of the judiciary.
The sticking point, in light of discussions between the opposition and government over the weekend, is the matter of extending the tenure of government officials, including judges. However, per sources, consensus has largely been achieved on the formation of a new constitutional court.
According to official numbers, the government requires 224 votes in the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate to pass the constitutional amendment. Currently, the ruling coalition has 211 MNAs, and the opposition 101 in the Lower House, leaving the government with 13 votes needed for a constitutional amendments. Eight of these could be made up by the JUIF if they side with the government.
In the Senate, the treasury has 54 seats, leaving it short of nine votes for the amendment.
On Sunday, the government had summoned a session of the National Assembly at 11 a.m., ostensibly to vote on the constitutional package. However, amidst lack of consensus, the session was repeatedly delayed, eventually meeting only briefly before being adjourned until Monday afternoon. Similarly, a meeting of the Senate never came to pass, also being deferred until Monday afternoon.
Throughout the day, the JUIF’s chief emerged as the belle of the ball, being courted by opposition and treasury benches alike as his party’s numbers in both the upper and lower houses of Parliament is deemed key to the government achieving a two-thirds majority, especially as the PTI maintains it would not support any amendments to the Constitution, regardless of their content.
Initially, a government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar visited Fazl’s residence for detailed discussions on constitutional and legal matters. This was followed by meetings between Fazl and a PPP delegation led by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari; a PTI delegation led by Chairman Gohar Ali Khan; and other politicians of various parties.
Following the meetings, which spanned almost the entire day, Fazl reached Parliament House to attend a special parliamentary committee meeting. This was followed by the government announcing it was deferring any vote on the constitutional package “indefinitely,” suggesting discussions would continue.
The events of Sunday proved politically damaging for the government, as several of its lawmakers were proven to have misrepresented the support it enjoyed for the legislation. Earlier, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif had claimed all matters were sorted and numbers secured; after Fazl’s arrival at Parliament he recanted to say that Fazl had decided against supporting the government’s amendments in their present stage.
Proposed amendments
According to a leaked draft of the proposed constitutional package—which is subject to change—the treasury is seeking amendments to Articles 51, 63, 175, 181 and 187 of the Constitution and is also seeking to expand the representation of the Balochistan Assembly from the present 65 seats to 81.
It further calls for the formation of a constitutional court, which would hear all petitions related to Articles 184, 185 and 186 and would be comprised of four judges appointed by the judiciary as well as a chief justice appointed by the prime minister. The draft similarly seeks government authority over the inter-provisional transfer of high court judges without seeking their consent. A point proving especially controversial is making the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) through a five-member panel comprising top court judges rather than the existing appointment of the senior-most judge.