The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) on Tuesday reached consensus on a draft of the 26th constitutional amendment, with JUIF chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announcing he will now share the document with the leadership of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).
“After much discussion, I can say this much that our two parties have agreed on a draft,” Fazl told journalists during a joint press conference with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Karachi. He said he would share the consensus draft with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) President Nawaz Sharif, who he is meeting in Lahore today (Wednesday). He said he would also try to bring the leadership of the PTI onboard to ensure participation of all political forces.
“We will make an effort to create such a consensus on this draft that it is unanimously considered a constitutional amendment,” said Fazl, praising Bilawal for playing a key role in achieving consensus on the contentious judicial reforms anticipated in the constitutional amendments.
The PPP chief, similarly thanked Fazl and his party for their support, stressing on the need to build upon the consensus achieved between the two parties. He said a PPP delegation would also attend the meeting between Nawaz and Fazl. Hoping that consensus could be achieved between the PPP, JUIF and PMLN, he emphasized that the proposed amendments were not person-specific. “Our focus is only on finding solutions to the nation’s problems,” he said.
According to Bhutto-Zardari, all parties hope to introduce the constitutional amendment in a “non-controversial manner,” adding he hoped that all parties would set aside personal interest for the sake of the nation. He also hoped the final bill passed by the National Assembly would reflect the consensus achieved between the PPP and JUIF.
“The PPP has fought every election since 2007 with the pledge to implement judicial reforms, including the establishment of federal constitutional courts. Please see relevant sections of the 2006 Charter of Democracy, 2013 manifesto and 2024 election manifesto,” he said, rebutting the impression of a particular “timing” for the current amendment.
To a question, Fazl maintained that his party had rejected the first draft of the constitutional package presented by the government. “We expect the PMLN to ensure the Constitution remains strong and to build confidence in the political system,” he said. “We have to raise our voice for the country, Constitution and Parliament,” he added.
The JUIF chief said nothing discussed between the PPP and his party was kept from the PMLN. “We had shared the draft of our proposals with them,” he said, while refusing to divulge any details of the consensus achieved.
According to the initial draft prepared by the government, the proposed constitutional package aims to set up a federal constitutional court and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) to three years. Various legal bodies have opposed the measure, claiming it would hamper judicial independence. However, the PPP and PMLN have both maintained that the “politicization” of the Supreme Court requires the formation of a Constitutional Court.
Also on Tuesday, the federal government summoned separate sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate for Oct. 17 (Thursday), with observers speculating the proposed constitutional amendments would be tabled in these sessions.