After successfully steering the 26th Amendment Bill, 2024, through the Senate, the coalition government passed the contentious constitutional package in the National Assembly during the predawn hours on Monday.
The judiciary-oriented constitutional package proposed a set of constitutional amendments, including provisioning a fixed three-year term of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).
Likewise, in the upper house of parliament, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented and outlined the key features of the bill in the NA.
Addressing the key NA session, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the government had achieved the broadest possible consensus with the opposition on the bill.
“It is the opposition’s democratic right if it does not cast a vote,” he said, adding, “The PML-N has the fewest, while the PPP and JUI-F have the most points in the constitutional package.”
“About 99% of the objections to the constitutional amendment are from the PTI,” he noted, further stating, “Whether the opposition votes or not, it has played a part in the success.”
“The 18th Amendment was a revolutionary reform; this [26th Amendment Bill, 2024] is also a historic one.”
“Justice Dorab Patel was the judge in the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto murder case,” he said, noting that if Justice Patel had cared about the position, he would have taken the oath as Chief Justice. However, he added, Justice Dorab did not accept dictatorship and resigned.
Bilawal later mentioned that Patel went on to found the Human Rights Commission.
He further said that “every political party had signed” the Charter of Democracy (CoD), which also included the formation of a constitutional court.
“Whether a constitutional court or a bench, the people are being served,” he added. He also rejected claims of urgency to pass the amendment bill.
“People’s representation in the judicial reforms has been restored,” the PPP chief said.
He pointed out that originally it was the Governor General’s prerogative to appoint or remove a judge, and that authority was later transferred to the president.
“In 1996, the authority was taken away and handed over to the Chief Justice,” he explained, noting that Benazir Bhutto was about to appoint the country’s top judge, “but certain individuals could not stand it.”
Speaking on the NA floor, Opposition Leader Omar Ayub lambasted the constitutional amendments, calling them an attempt to strangle the independent judiciary.
He said those who had “gone missing” should have been thanked as well, adding that the government, which came into power via rigging, had no right to amend the Consitution.
He alleged that several PTI lawmakers were “abducted” and the government was trying to enact the amendment at “gunpoint”.
The opposition leader questioned the urgency behind passing the bill, asking: “What would have happened had it been passed on October 31?”
Addressing the lower house, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that the 26th Amendment Bill “aims to restore the respect and dignity of the parliament as guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan”.
“We are empowering the parliament, as agreed in the Charter of Democracy signed by all political parties,” he said.
“Today’s amendment restores power to the people of this country, through their elected representatives.”
Asif highlighted that thousands of cases were pending in the superior courts, and he expressed optimism that reforms in the judiciary would help improve the performance of the courts.
“Politicians face disqualification, they sacrifice their lives and endure imprisonment — why can’t the judiciary be held accountable?” he added.
Voicing support for selecting the CJP from a panel of three senior judges, as proposed in the amendment, the minister said that the current government would complete its constitutional tenure.
Backing the bill, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman remarked that the ruling party feared one judge, while the opposition was scared of another.
Stressing the need for impartiality, the cleric, noted for his political shrewdness, said that constitutional amendments should not be based on specific individuals.
Saying that the constitutional package aimed to reform the judicial system, Fazl noted that the matter of the constitutional court was mentioned in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between PML-N and PPP in 2006.
Praising the CoD, he clarified that while it was not a substitute for the Constitution or the law, it served as a guiding document when facing challenges in the democratic process.
Earlier, the government finally passed the disputed constitutional amendment bill through the Senate, capping the CJP’s tenure at three years, despite opposition from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The bill was tabled hours after the federal cabinet approved the draft amendments after hanging in balance for weeks. The house voted 65-4 to approve the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with the required two-thirds majority.
The political leaders continued to hold consultations on the constitutional tweaks till late Saturday night, with uncertainty regarding the tabling of the draft due to severe opposition from the PTI.
The coalition government was initially set to present the legislation yesterday but decided to defer it at the request of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman who said that his party would be able to cast its votes in favour of the 26th constitutional amendment after receiving a response from the PTI.
The former ruling party has time again expressed concerns over the prospective judiciary-oriented legislation provisioning a fixed three-year term of the CJP, establishment of constitutional benches, restructuring of the Supreme Judicial Council, and the formation of a Special Parliamentary Committee which will suggest names from amongst the three most senior judges of the apex court for the CJP’s appointment.
During the announcement of the result, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani stated, “65 votes were cast in favour and four against the constitutional amendment.”
In the session, 23 senators from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), 19 from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), five from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and four from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) voted in favour of the constitutional package.
Additionally, four independent senators, two from Balochistan National Party (BNP), three from Awami National Party (ANP), and three from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) supported the bill during the voting.
One senator each from Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the National Party also voted in favour of the bill.
Senate session
Addressing the Senate session, Federal Minster for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the government’s allied parties and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) reached a consensus on the draft of the constitutional amendment bill.
As part of the government’s efforts, a special parliamentary committee comprising representatives of all the political parties discussed the proposed constitutional package.
The law minister, speaking on the floor of the Upper House, requested Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani to allow him to table the draft of the 26th Amendment Bill.
He pleaded with the chairman that the proposed amendments should be tabled in the House as a supplementary agenda. He informed the House that the procedure to appoint judges had been changed in the 18th Amendment.
CJP Qazi Faez Isa has consistently expressed his lack of interest in extending his tenure as the top judge,” the law minister said in response to the criticism from the opposition.
Once again, dispelling the widespread notion, the minister categorically stated that CJP Isa would retire as scheduled.
Additionally, the minister mentioned that one of the draft amendments pertained to the constitutional benches of the apex court.
