Despite hectic efforts from the ruling coalition, legislation failed to muster the two-thirds support required for the passage of constitutional amendment.
The much-talked-about ConstiÂtutional Package — which is currently being debated in parliament and has yet to be tabled — is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the extension of the top judge’s term.
The proposed package, which was expected to be tabled on Saturday, was put on hold until Sunday, with the much-awaited National Assembly session convening a little before midnight and ending within minutes.
Monday’s session began at around 1pm, with Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar telling the NA that the package has not been presented before the federal cabinet yet.
The controversial package had remained under wraps for weeks but could not be tabled in parliament even on Sunday, despite hectic efforts from the ruling coalition, as it failed to muster the two-thirds support required for the passage of a constitutional amendment.
The ruling partners had joined heads at the Presidency and the Prime Minister’s Office on September 9 to deliberate on the proposed legislation.
Salient features of Constitutional Package
- Setting the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) to a fixed three-year period
- Bringing changes to the Supreme Court, high courts, and the Supreme Judicial Council
- Power to transfer judges from one court to another.
What did CJP say about tenure extension?
On September 9, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa issued a clarification regarding the possibility of an extension to his tenure.
He explained that when asked about it, he mentioned that several months ago, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had visited his chambers and informed him that the government was considering making the position of the CJP a fixed three-year term.
The CJP’s said in the statement that he told the law minister if the proposal was enacted as an individual-specific piece of legislation, it would not be something he would accept.
It may not be a person-specific legislation, but it would give the executive some ingress in the process of appointment, posting, and transferring of the judges of the superior judiciary.
When is the legislation likely to be tabled?
The legislation, which was likely to be tabled in both houses of parliament on Saturday, had been put on hold by the ruling coalition till Sunday for strategic reasons emanating from the hurdles in mustering up the two-thirds majority in both houses.
The 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.
Everything seems to be riding on the support of Fazl, 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.
