Pakistan postpones tabling of controversial judicial reform bill amid lack of support

Pakistan’s coalition government was on Monday forced to once again delay the tabling of a controversial constitutional amendment bill in the parliament, apparently due to a lack of required numbers to pass it.

The details of the amendments are still a mystery as the government has not officially shared it with the media or discussed it publically. What has been reported so far shows that the government plans to increase the retirement age of judges and fix the tenure of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Senator Irfan Siddiqui of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) told the media that the amendment bill would not be tabled in the parliament on Monday.

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Speaking to Geo News, Siddiqui said sessions of both houses on Monday were to be “prorogued” and “would next be called when we would be prepared from all angles to introduce a constitutional amendment”.

Asked if it was possible for the matter to be delayed for months, the PML-N senator replied in the negative. He added that the legislation is likely to be tabled within a week or two.

“It was our wish that this [legislation is passed] within two days […],” the senator said.

The government was forced to delay the move of tabling the amendment bill in the parliament after its efforts to get the support of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), failed.

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To pass the amendment, the government needs 224 votes in the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate. The coalition strength in the NA is 213 and 52 in the Senate. The JUI-F, with eight NA members and five senators, is in a position to play a major role.

The government claims that if Rehman supported the amendment, it would be passed in both houses as the government had already won the support of other smaller parties.

Siddiqui described Rehman as “very flexible” during meetings and quoted him as saying that he “did not have a principle difference” on some of the proposed legislation but stressed the need for time to review the package.

Sources said that the JUI-F chief supports the amendments but not the entire package. He also wants that the PTI should also be taken on board to create consensus on the constitutional package of changes.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly met at around midday where opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party heavily criticized the government for trying to weaken the judiciary.

Former speaker and PTI leader Asad Qaiser strongly condemned the “use of Parliament as a rubber stamp”, saying it has been turned into a joke.

He claimed that even the law minister did not know the proposed draft. “So if a government representative does not know, then where has this document come from?” He said that the PTI was in favour of judicial reforms, but such reform should be introduced after debate and discussions. “Is this how you wanted to pass the bill, in the dark of the night like thieves, on Saturday and Sunday night?” In response, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the bill had “not yet been presented before the federal cabinet as a draft nor in CCLC (Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases)”, adding that once it is presented before the parliament, its details would be known.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the legislation was 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.