JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza has said that he was not aware if party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman agreed to vote for the constitutional amendment and asked which draft of the document was being discussed in media.
“If you are asking me, then it has come to you but not to me,” he said while appearing on Spot Light with Munizae Jahangir which was aired on Aaj News.
He was responding to a query related to media reports that the JUI-F chief has “conditionally agreed” to the proposed amendments.
Fazl has suggested the formation of a five or six-member constitutional bench instead of referring the matter to the full constitutional court, according to reports.
In reaction to such reports, the JUI-F senator said that it should be informed which document has been approved by the party head.
Murtaza, who is Fazl’s go-to guy for legal matters, added that similar confusion was created in the past when the government was about to present the amendment in the National Assembly.
Described as the “26th Constitutional Amendment”, the intended legislation was set to propose a fixed three-year tenure for the chief justice of Pakistan and form a constitutional court.
Although the legislation was initially scheduled to be introduced in the National Assembly and Senate last month, the government was unable to present it over the weekend despite intensive efforts to secure the necessary support.
The details of the proposed amendments, which had largely been kept under wraps, were discussed during a special parliamentary committee meeting on September 15. It was aimed at bringing the opposition on board, much to the dismay of both opposition members and government allies.
Many people fear that matters related to people’s basic rights like the right to protest will fall under the constitutional court.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman rejected the proposed constitutional amendments on September 18 and laid out his party’s stance on the issue. But he has supported the demand for constitutional courts without any person-specific legislation.
PTI’s Umair Niazi, who had also joined the show via video link, was of the view that the judiciary would intervene even if the government is able to pass the amendment.
He added that the constitutional court was aimed to “defang the Supreme Court and lower its status than the high court.”
When asked, Murtaza said that Fazl would share the party’s draft related to the amendment in the coming days. He clarified that the JUI-F has not reached a consensus either with PPP or with PML-N.
In response to a question, the government’s legal adviser Barrister Aqeel Malik said that the sunset clause related to the military courts amendment was for around two years.
At the show, when the host asked Murtaza and Niazi if the amendment would take away the power of guardian of human rights from the SC, they replied in the affirmative.
The JUI-F senator called for open debate on it, saying that passing it in haste would have far-reaching effects.
“What guarantee does the new court give? The man behind the gun matters. Don’t blame the gun,” he said while talking about the people at the helm.
According to the government’s legal adviser, criteria would be set for the appointment of judges and the constitutional court, if formed, would hear cases related to civil, criminal, service, family, and land.
“There is no guarantee. The attempt is to clean up this entire situation. We are working on access to justice and improving the rule of law.”
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PTI’s Niazi called for “bench management” to clear the backlog.
The JUI-F senator stated that his party would oppose governor rule in KP, saying that it would be “undemocratic.”
He also opposed a ban on the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement despite not agreeing with the party’s ideology. The PTI’s leader also opposed the ban and added that he would speak to KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur if he did not condemn the police action in the party’s camps.
