• Govt unable to muster numbers to pass constitutional amendment
• Attempts to build consensus at special parliamentary committee meeting do not bear fruit as govt fails to convince Fazl
• Sunday sittings of both houses adjourned with no business being transacted; cabinet expected to okay ‘Constitutional Package’ today ahead of National Assembly, Senate sessions

ISLAMABAD: A controversial Consti­tutional Package, which had remained under wraps for weeks could not be tabled in parliament even on Sunday, despite hectic efforts from the ruling coalition, as it failed to muster the two-thirds support required for the passage of a constitutional amendment.

The day-long ambiguity surrounding the Constitutional Package finally ended after 11pm, as both houses of parliament briefly convened at night following multiple postponements, only to be adjourned until Monday morning (today).

The Senate will now meet at 11:30am, whereas the National Assembly has been summoned to meet at 12:30pm on Monday. However, as per procedure, the constitutional amendment first needs to be cleared by the federal cabinet, which is also expected to convene on Monday.

Although it usually meets on Tuesday, the cabinet meeting may be held earlier as the Eid Miladun Nabi (PBUH) holiday falls on Tuesday.

However, observers believe this may open a door for judicial intervention, which the government had hoped to avoid by putting in extra effort on an official holiday.

The proposed set of amendments, which had been kept out of the public eye, much to the chagrin of the opposition as well as government allies, was eventually discussed at the special parliamentary committee’s meeting in a bid to take the opposition on board.

This meeting, which was also attended by a representative of the opposition PTI, was convened after the government seemingly failed to convince its former ally Maulana Fazlur Rehman to vote for the amendment on Sunday.

Disappointment writ large

It was apparent that the deadlock that prevailed before the special committee meeting continued to prevail as following the end of the meeting — after midnight — most participants emerged with long and haggard faces.

Committee chairperson Syed Khursheed Shah told reporters that the draft of the proposed constitutional amendment had not been shared with Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s party as it had yet to be okayed by the cabinet and could not be shared before that.

The Maulana also seemed unhappy; though he did not talk about the issue in detail, he did say: “It is a sensitive issue which should be discussed calmly.”

PTI’s Omar Ayub and Barrister Ali Zafar also complained that no draft was presented in the meeting, which lasted nearly three hours.

“They (the government) have no draft with them and they did not know what to discuss,” Mr Omar said after the meeting.

Even PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf termed the constitutional package “a serious piece of legislation” which should not be made in haste.

Numbers game?

In the lead-up to the meeting of the special committee, Parliament Lodges and the residence of the JUI-F chief remained a hotbed of political activity.

The emphasis of the government seemed to be on securing the magic number required for the passage of the amendment — 224 in the case of the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate. But despite tall claims that it had “completed its homework”, the government’s reluctance to table the amendment on Sunday night belied its earlier claims of having the numbers to push the amendment through both houses.

Everything seems to be riding on the support of Maulana — sources said the late-night decision to put off the sessions of both houses of parliament was taken on his insistence — as he holds the key to bringing the government close to their goal as far as the Senate is concerned.

With his five seats in the Senate, the Maulana is in a position to tip the scales in the favour of the government. Currently, the ruling coalition’s parties have a total of 52 confirmed votes — PPP’s 24, PML-N’s 19, BAP’s 4, MQM-P’s 3, and one each from the PML-Q and National Party.

If the ANP backs the government with its three votes, and if the four independent senators also side with the treasury, this would mean a total of 64 votes in an incomplete house of 85, which is the required threshold.

However, things are not so clear in the National Assembly: here coalition parties have a total of 213 seats (excluding 20 disputed reserved seats), while the opposition has 99 in an incomplete house of 312. The JUI-F has eight seats in the lower house, and even if they were all to vote for the government, it would still fall three short of the required number.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2024