JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah rebuffed impressions that party head Maulana Fazlur Rehman was on any “mission” to London amid the changing domestic and geo-political situation.

“This is Fazl’s private visit and friends have invited him. There is no political purpose behind it,” he said while appearing on News Insight with Amir Zia which was aired on Aaj News on Thursday.

The religio-political leader went to the United Kingdom capital after the government bulldozed bills related to increasing the number of Supreme Court judges from 17 to 34 and extending the tenure of services’ chiefs from three to five years.

When asked about any assurances from the government over the 26th Constitutional Amendment, he said that the JUI-F wanted the seniority principle followed in the judge’s appointment process for the incumbent chief justice of Pakistan.

“The JUI-F was not concerned about who becomes CJP. We wanted the seniority principle for at least this time. We had a commitment with the PPP on this, but the PPP defected from this principle,” Hamdullah said.

He agreed with the view that Parliament should be supreme, but wondered who would be supreme if legislation were passed by “someone else’s orders.”

Fazl claimed that the party wanted to save the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan. He reminded the PML-N of past decisions when the army chief appointed from the junior rank removed PML-N President Nawaz Sharif.

He added that when the Pakistan Democratic Movement was formed, it wanted that establishment does not intervene in politics. Hamdullah said that despite such promises, the PML-N and the PPP passed the legislation seeking extension in services chiefs’ tenure.