PTI to not vote as govt readies to move constitutional amendment in parliament today
The PTI said on Sunday it would not vote for the much-touted Constitutional Package as the government geared up to get it approved in parliament today.
The Constitutional Package is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the extension of the chief justice’s term. A special parliamentary committee formed last month — which has the representation of all parties, including the PTI — has been discussing various proposals.
On Saturday, the federal government was scheduled to meet to mull the judicial reform package. However, sessions at both houses of the parliament faced several delays and were subsequently adjourned before midnight.
A notification from the Senate secretariat said that the upper house session will commence at 3pm today, while the National Assembly session is set for 6pm, according to a separate notification from the NA secretariat.
According to Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, a cabinet session — originally scheduled for Friday — will take place today before the Senate session to discuss the constitutional amendment.
Tarar said a comprehensive draft of the constitutional amendment with some tweaks to the earlier one would be presented before the federal cabinet for its approval,“ according to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
He said that the bill, once approved by the federal cabinet, would be moved in both houses for voting.
While responding to a question whether JUI-F’s chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would be provided more time, the law minister said: “It is going to happen today.”
According to the JUI-F chief, who met the PTI leadership yesterday, he had received a “positive response” from Imran Khan regarding the constitutional amendment.
Thanking Imran for his “positive response”, the Maulana said it was through him that the PTI and its leadership were kept informed about the developments with regard to the constitutional amendment package. He expressed the hope that PTI would come up with its reply on Sunday.
Today, PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, while speaking to Dawn.com, said that the party will meet Fazl today. However, PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar, while speaking to Dawn.com separately, said the party will not vote for the constitutional amendment.
Separately, according to PTI’s media cell, the party’s political committee decided to boycott the voting process in both houses of the parliament, in case the government tabled the constitutional amendments today.
Govt claims numbers complete
Ministers of the federal government claimed yesterday that it had the required number of lawmakers to pass the much-touted 26th constitutional amendment.
Recounting the various political meetings occurring in the past few days, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said: “Despite the numbers and homework being complete, the attempt was made not to stop the consultation process and achieve broader consensus because when a constitutional amendment takes place, it is our obligation to not only bring all political parties onboard but have a fruitful debate on every clause to take it to a logical conclusion.”
“As [PPP Chairman] Bilawal [Bhutto-Zardari] said yesterday. We have other options present but we are democratic-minded people and it is our effort to move forward on this matter after a complete consensus.”
Similarly, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also maintained that the government was pursuing a broad consensus on the constitutional package in both houses of parliament despite the government’s numbers being “pretty much complete”.
“Our numbers are complete, Asif said.
More to follow