The JUI-F became the centre of attention in Pakistan’s politics on the weekend after it kept the government on its toes over the vote for a controversial constitutional amendment. When the religio-political party’s legal mind Kamran Murtaza reviewed it, the first thing he objected to was curbs on fundamental rights.

“I had an objection to many things,” Murtaza, who is Fazl’s go-to guy for legal matters, said while appearing on Spot Light with Munizae Jahangir which was aired on Aaj News on Tuesday.

According to media reports, there was more than one draft of the proposed legislation after the JUI-F raised concerns over it. The government made several trips to Fazl’s house on Sunday while keeping sessions of both houses of Parliament delayed.

When the day was about to end the government managed to bring its former ally to Parliament, only to attend the special committee where one of Fazl’s suggestions came out: delay the tabling of the bill by Monday. But it could not happen on the next day because the government could not convince the party over the bill.

Murtaza said that he had objections to amendments to articles 8 (Fundamental Rights) and 199 (Jurisdiction of High Court), saying that tweaks aimed at infringing upon the basic rights and weakening the court rights.

When asked about the exception given to armed forces in the law, he replied that it was amended in a way to impose more restrictions on the people.

He went on to add that the changes to Article 199 under the name of “national security” were to take back the right of hearing entitled to courts. He described it as a “vague term”, reiterating that it was leading to curtailing basic rights.

The JUI-F senator revealed that the original draft had 56 clauses, including a section to Article 9 (Security of person). He added that the formation of a constitutional court was an old demand which can be discussed.

He added that amendments should not be person-specific while speaking about the changes to removing the word “consent” from the law related to the transfer of high court judges.

He partially agreed with the question that former caretaker prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti met with Fazl with an offer related to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor position and share in the Balochistan government.

Murtaza said that the JUI-F would never accept governorship, ministries, presidency, and premiership at the cost of fundamental rights.

When asked about Bilawal’s meetings with Fazl over the legislation, the JUI-F senator said that he was not expecting that the PPP would be part of something that could weaken Parliament. “When you see the original draft, it was also like clipping Parliament’s or people’s powers and transferring it to somewhere else.”

He claimed that the PPP has so far not shared its constitutional amendment draft with the JUI-F.

Murtaza shared that parliamentarians, MQM-P’s Faisal Sabzwari and PML-N’s Anusha Rehman, next to him at the special committee meeting were unaware of the constitutional amendments. The legal expert said that he wrote the objectionable parts of the legislation on a paper for Sabzwari when he asked him quietly.

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When asked about the origin of the draft, he said: “It came from our brothers.”

He reiterated that the JUI-F would not accept any law that would curtail basic rights. “The JUI-F won’t support arm twisting,” he said and stressed the need for respecting the rights enshrined in the Constitution.