Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told the National Assembly on Monday that a controversial ‘Constitutional Package’ was not going to be tabled in either house of the Parliament today.
The package is a set of amendments to the Constitution, among which is one aiming to fix the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) at three years.
The legislation was previously expected to be introduced in the National Assembly and the Senate today, after the government failed to table it over the weekend as previously scheduled despite hectic efforts to garner the required support.
Speaking on the floor of the lower house, Tarar said the proposed amendments had “not yet been presented before the federal cabinet as a draft nor in the CCLC (Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases)”.
As per procedure, a constitutional amendment first needs to be cleared by the federal cabinet.
While the Senate session scheduled for 12:30pm convened today and was later prorogued, Radio Pakistan reported, the NA session began at around 1pm.
The proposed legislation, which had been kept out of the public eye, much to the chagrin of the opposition as well as government allies, was eventually discussed at the special parliamentary committee’s meeting in a bid to take the opposition on board.
The PTI, which has complained that no draft of the legislation was presented in the three-hour-long meeting, has made “all possible efforts” to stop the government from introducing the package.
According to a Dawn analysis, if the government manages to secure Fazl’s support, it would barely just get the required 64 votes in the Senate, given that the Awami National Party also votes in favour.
However, the situation in the NA would likely still be tricky as even with the JUI-F’s potential support, it would fall short of three votes.
‘Very positive’ response from Fazl: Irfan Siddiqui
Senator Irfan Siddiqui of the ruling PML-N said sessions of both houses “would next be called when we would be prepared from all angles to introduce a constitutional amendment”.
“It was our wish that this [legislation is passed] within two days […],” the senator told Geo News today.
Asked if it was possible for the matter to be delayed for months, the PML-N senator replied in the negative, adding that in his opinion, the legislation would be tabled within a week or two.
Speaking about discussions held yesterday with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of his faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Siddiqui described the politician as “very flexible” during those.
The PML-N senator termed Fazl’s reasons behind his concerns as “very effective and rational”. Siddiqui quoted Fazl as saying he “did not have a principle difference” on some of the proposed legislation but stressed the need for time to review the package.
In a separate talk to reporters, Siddiqui said Fazl and the government had concurred with each other’s opinions to “wait a few days more” to introduce the legal package.
Describing Fazl’s response as “very positive”, the senator said, “[Fazl] did not object to anything to the extent of opinion.”
Asif says no politics; correcting constitutional imbalances
When the NA session finally convened, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the much-touted legislation was, in the ruling coalition’s opinion, an “attempt to correct constitutional imbalances, especially regarding the parliament”.
“It is an attempt to undo the 19th Amendment,” Asif added, referring to legislation that envisaged a new system for appointments in the superior courts.
“There is no politics in this,” the PML-N minister asserted.
Asif stressed that the Constitution gave the lawmakers the “right” to introduce laws to ensure that the “institution that represents 250 million people remains empowered and robust as defined by the Constitution”.
The defence minister said the “basis” of the legislation was the Charter of Democracy signed in 2006 by ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, highlighting that PTI was also a part of it.
“Instead of enacting legislation specific to our political interest, that basic document should be regarded as the beacon and followed,” he added.
“Neither was there any politics in this entire process nor was it being given a political angle,” Asif maintained.
The minister confirmed that the legislation was to “undo the new insertion” into Article 63A’s interpretation of lawmakers’ votes not being counted if they voted against their party stance. “What political interest can there be [in advocating] that a vote that is cast is counted?”
Speaking about the proposed formation of constitutional courts, Asif said it was in accordance with the Charter of Democracy and claimed there was a “broad consensus across the political spectrum”. “It will remain in the judiciary’s possession.”
On the appointments of superior courts’ judges, Asif said, “We do not want to trespass on the turf of any institution but want to assert this parliament’s existence […] Our role should not be that of a rubber stamp.”
PTI considering boycotting sessions: Asad Qaiser
On the opposition side, former NA speaker and PTI leader Asad Qaiser said his party was considering boycotting the parliament sessions.
“I will suggest the party to boycott the proceedings of the Parliament and the Standing Committees — there is no other way,” he told Dawn News, adding that PTI was ready to “challenge the proposed constitutional amendment in court”.
The former NA speaker said it was wrong “to expect anything more from the Parliament and the only way forward was to involve the citizens in this war”.
“The protest movement is starting — there is no other option,” the PTI leader added.
Meanwhile, speaking in the NA today, Qaiser strongly condemned the “use of Parliament as a rubber stamp”, saying it had been turned into a joke.
He especially thanked Fazl for “fighting bravely”.
Qaiser claimed that according to the special committee’s report, the law minister said he had no knowledge of the proposed draft. “So if a government representative does not know, then where has this document come from?”
“Are we enemies of the state?” he questioned on the floor of the house, to the applause of other lawmakers.
“We want that there are judicial reforms, that people get resources,” the PTI leader said. “If you want to bring amendments, definitely bring them [but] debate and discuss them.”
Highlighting that the amendments were to impact “all 250m people in this country”, Qaiser asked: “Is this how you wanted to pass the bill, in the dark of the night like thieves, on Saturday and Sunday night?”
’When you want to do lawmaking, when you have a proposal of this sort, you need to make it public.“
He reiterated his condemnation of “what unfolded in this House in the last 24 hours” and vowed to continue fighting “this oppression”.
Political activity over weekend
The residence of Maulana Fazl saw the most political activity on Sunday — even eclipsing the level of politicking going on at parliament — as both the government and the opposition attempted to win his support.
After convening a JUI-F parliamentary party meeting, the politically astute Fazl met with a government team comprising Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
He was then approached by the opposition delegation led by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan around 6pm, where they even offered evening prayers led by the JUI-F chief.
Although there was no official word on what was discussed behind closed doors, insiders told Dawn that PTI had supposedly offered Fazl’s son Asad Mehmood a seat in the National Assembly, encouraging him to join what the party terms its “popular movement for restoration of true democracy in country”.
JUI-F sources indicated that two of Maulana’s demands included governorship in KP and a slot in parliament for his son Asad, apart from some space in the federal cabinet.
The PPP has reportedly offered to have Asad elected as a senator from Sindh.
Sources close to Balochistan lawmakers confided that interior minister Naqvi has offered the JUI-F chief the slot of Balochistan chief minister in return for his support, as well as the possibility that Asad Mehmood could become an MPA from that province.
Numbers game
The emphasis of the government seems to be on securing the magic number required for the passage of the amendment — 224 in the case of the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate.
However, despite tall claims that it had “completed its homework”, the government’s reluctance to table the amendment on Sunday night belied its earlier claims of having the numbers to push the amendment through both houses.
Everything seems to be riding on the support of Fazl — sources said the late-night decision to put off the sessions of both houses of parliament was taken on his insistence — as he holds the key to bringing the government close to its goal as far as the Senate is concerned.
With his five seats in the Senate, the Maulana is in a position to tip the scales in the favour of the government. Currently, the ruling coalition’s parties have a total of 52 confirmed votes — PPP’s 24, PML-N’s 19, Balochistan Awami Party’s (BAP) four, Mutahhida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) three, and one each from the PML-Q and National Party.
If the Awami National Party (ANP) backs the government with its three votes, and if the four independent senators also side with the treasury, this would mean a total of 64 votes, which is the required threshold, in an incomplete house of 85.
However, things are not so clear in the NA: here coalition parties have a total of 213 seats (excluding 20 disputed reserved seats), while the opposition has 99 in an incomplete house of 312. The JUI-F has eight seats in the lower house, and even if they were all to vote for the government, it would still fall three short of the required number.
