• PML-N leaders say consultations with political parties underway, appear confident of roping in JUI-F
• Fazl ‘rejects’ constitutional amendments after meeting with PTI; Qaiser says party to coordinate with JUI-F on ‘all issues’

ISLAMABAD: After Maulana Fazlur Rehman ‘completely rejected’ the proposed constitutional package chalked up by the PML-N, the coalition government without losing hope has stepped up consultations with other political parties to evolve a consensus on the controversial amendments to the Constitution.

In a media talk following a meeting between the JUI-F chief and the PTI leaders at the residence of former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser on Wednesday, the JUI-F leader said, “We have completely rejected the proposed package as the government is itself saying that there’s no draft of the constitutional package.”

He said the JUI-F had never agreed to support the package. “If the government is now claiming that there was no draft of the package then which document was shared with us,” he questioned.

It may be noted that the government said the draft being shared on social media was just a ‘working paper’ not the final document.

After the meeting, Mr Qaiser told reporters that the PTI and JUI-F decided to coordinate on all issues in parliament. He claimed the proposed package had not been shared with the ruling parties’ legislators either.

The apparent agreement between the JUI-F and the PTI prompted Interior Minis­ter Mohsin Naqvi to call on Maulana Fazl, again, to convince the veteran politician to stand with the government on the issue. Mr Naqvi was part of a team tasked with convincing Maulana Fazl over the past weekend, but failed.

‘Still hopeful’

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that the PML-N and the PPP were on ‘one page’ over the ‘Constitutional Package’.

Under the proposed package, the number of judges in the Supreme Court was to be increased from 17 to 23 and the tenure of the CJP to be fixed at three years. A constitutional court is also on the cards under the proposed legislation. Khawaja Asif said a consensus document would be presented again and hinted that the JUI-F would be convinced ahead of the amendments.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said extensive consultations with all political parties were underway but no one would be allowed to “use the issue as a bargaining chip for getting an NRO”. He reiterated that consultations would continue to reach a consensus on the amendments. The draft had been shared with the Pak­istan Peoples Party, JUI-F and other parties and discussions were held on every section, he added.

Furthermore, the information minister told Dawn that the meeting of the special parliamentary committee where the constitutional package had been discussed would be summoned in a few days to take up the suggesstions. He said the Balochistan National Party was also being taken on board.

Mr Tarar also negated the impression that the proposed package was prepared somewhere else, saying the package was prepared in the office of the law ministry under the guidance of Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

‘No plans for extension’

Sharing details about the consultations, PML-N stalwart Irfan Siddiqui said in a TV interview that there was no plan to extend the tenure of the chief justice or increase the retirement age of the superior judges.

“These are merely speculations circulating in the media and the government has no such plans,” Senator Siddiqui said during an interview with a private TV channel.

He said the constitutional package had not hit a snag, rather it was moving to the next stage in which the coalition partners, the PML-N and the PPP, were playing an active role. He expressed confidence that Maulana Fazlur Rehman would agree and amendments would be passed by parliament with the cooperation of JUI-F and other parties.

Senator Siddiqui told Dawn that consultations with all parties, including the ANP and MQM-Pakistan, were underway and the government would heed their demands.

With input from Iftikhar A. Khan

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2024