PESHAWAR: The treasury members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday announced they would resist any attempt to alter the fundamental structure of the Constitution.

They also insisted that the “Constitutional Package” proposed by the federal government was meant to please a key person in the higher judiciary.

During an assembly session chaired by Deputy Speaker Suriya Bibi here, lawmaker of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party Ahmad Karim Kundi said his party had proposed the formation of the constitutional court with equal representation of the federating units and the fixing of the three-year service term for the chief justice to be rotated among all provinces.

He said the Peshawar High Court was formed in 1970 but only one judge from the province became the chief justice of the apex court.

Insist proposed amendments meant to please key person in higher judiciary

“There is a need for judicial reforms in the country,” he said, advocating for the formation of a federal constitutional court after developing consensus among stakeholders.

He said that his party had addressed “fault lines” by enacting the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Law and parliamentary affairs minister Aftab Alam Afridi said the proposed amendments, meant to set up a parallel apex court, would adversely affect the supremacy of the higher judiciary.

“All this is being done to please a top court member who is slated to retire on Oct 25,” he claimed.

He alleged that members of the National Assembly and Senate were being threatened and their family members abducted and pressured to get their support for the proposed amendments.

The minister claimed that after the amendments were made, the favoured judges would be appointed to the apex court by the federal government to deliver the sought-after rulings.

“We, all KP Assembly members, will resist such bids to alter the basic structure of the Constitution,” he said.

Higher education minister Mena Khan Afridi said he wasn’t opposed to amending the Constitutions when the need arose, but the federal government wanted to do so to serve its political ends.

He said authorities were pressuring lawmakers and offering them bribes of billions of rupees to get their support for the proposed Constitutional Package, while their family members were picked up, commercial plazas were bulldozed, and houses were damaged.

“We know that the Constitution is to be amended to allow military trial of civilians, but we and other democratic forces won’t let that happen,” he said.

The minister also highlighted the alleged rape of a student in Lahore and criticised the Punjab government over the baton-charging of protesters instead of addressing their grievances.

He demanded strict action against culprits.

Mr Khan alleged that over 1,500 PTI leaders and workers were arrested after the police and Rangers raided the KP House in Islamabad on Oct 4, with a cabinet member and a treasury lawmaker from the province being among detainees.

He complained that MPAs Liaqat Ali Khan and Anwarzeb Khan were not produced in the Assembly despite the issuance of production orders for them by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.

The minister insisted that no lawmaker could be put behind bars without bringing it into the speaker’s notice.

He claimed that fresh cases were being filed against the detained MPAs.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution, demanding official blue passports for the lawmakers, staff members of the assembly secretariat, and their family members.

The resolution, moved by PPP member Kundi, read that the National Assembly’s members and their families as well as the NA secretariat staff members were provided with blue passports.

He said though KP lawmakers, too, had the facility but that was valid for a limited time.

Mr Kundi demanded lifetime blue passports for MPAs and the assembly secretariat’s staff members.

Another resolution was tabled by member of the opposition JUI-F Sajjadullah, noting that Dasu and Bhasha dams are under construction for hydel power generation but the residents and Water and Power Development Authority are at odds over certain issues.

The resolution, which was passed unanimously by the house, read that an agreement was signed over the dams but the agreement couldn’t not be materialised, so a law and order situation could arise.

It demanded that the federal government ensure the effective implementation of the agreement.

The house also unanimously passed a joint resolution to condemn Indian aggression in the occupied Kashmir region.

The resolution, presented by MPA Abdul Salam Afridi, read that the elected representatives condemned use of fake domiciles for polls in the India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and urged the United Nations to constitute an independent commission to probe Indian aggression and violation of human rights.

Law minister Aftab Alam Afridi tabled the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Livestock Breeding Service Bill, 2024, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Animal Welfare Bill, 2024.

The chair later adjourned the sitting until next Tuesday (Oct 22).

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2024