ISLAMABAD: The government has convened sessions of parliament to secure the passage of a constitutional amendment seeking to revive military courts. But it may not get its way if it fails to win over the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) — two parties that are not quite on board with the plan that was agreed upon by all other parliamentary leaders a day earlier.

President Mamnoon Hus­sain on Wednesday summoned sessions of the Senate and National Assem­bly on Friday (tomorrow) and Monday (March 6), respectively.

The numerical strength of various parties in the two houses of parliament shows that support of the PPP and MQM would be vital if the government wanted the constitutional amendment to sail through the Senate, where the ruling party is in minority.

On Tuesday, after a meeting of parliamentary leaders chaired by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, representatives of nearly all political parties declared they had reached a consensus on the issue of reviving the military courts.

Senate summoned on Friday, NA to meet on Monday to take up constitutional amendment bill

However, they set a condition that a parliamentary committee be set up to oversee the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) and steps taken to improve the judicial and legal system.

The PPP has convened a multiparty conference on the issue in Islamabad on March 4, and boycotted Tuesday’s meeting to register its protest over the government’s move to amend the draft of the proposed law without taking them into confidence, and over the role of the National Assembly speaker in the exercise.

The MQM also voiced its agreement in principle with the government, but said it still had some reservations over the draft and sought guarantees and assurances directly from Prime Minis­ter Nawaz Sharif before voting in support.

The ruling Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) requires a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and Senate to ensure the passage of the constitutional amendment bill, which will revive the military courts until Jan 7, 2019.

While the PML-N won’t have any problem getting the bill through the 342-member National Assembly, it will not be in a position to secure its passage from the Senate without the support of either the PPP or the MQM.

In the 104-member Senate, the government requires a minimum of 70 votes for the passage of the constitutional amendment. But even if it ensures full attendance, which is highly unlikely, it will only be able to get a maximum of 69 votes, one vote short. The PPP with its 27 senators and the MQM with its eight may well prove to be the deciding factor in the upper house.

Even if the government manages to get the MQM’s support, it can get the bill passed from the upper house without necessarily winning over the PPP.

Even lawmakers from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) are in a position to leverage this opportunity to secure support for the pending Fata reforms package. Historically, Fata parliamentarians usually use such watershed moments to make political bargains and this time appears to be no different.

In an apparent attempt to preempt this, the government has already convened a meeting of the federal cabinet today (Thursday) to discuss the Fata reforms.

The parliamentary leaders’ accord on the reinstatement of military courts has virtually rendered the PPP’s multiparty conference redundant, with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami already indicating that they may not take part.

But the PPP has already declared that it will go ahead with the conference.

Sources said that former president and PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari had arrived in the capital on Wednesday to hold consultations within the party and with other political leaders on this issue.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2017