• Much-touted legislation aimed at giving country’s top judge a fixed term expected to be tabled today
• NA and Senate summoned on weekend; govt members say amendment may be introduced in upper house first
• Coalition claims to have ‘done its homework’; Fazl’s support seen as holding key to govt’s success

ISLAMABAD: A highly anticipated “Constitutional Package” that aims to — among other things — fix the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) at three years, seems set to be introduced in parliament today (Saturday).

While on the face of it, it is still not certain whether the ruling coalition has the numbers required to secure the passage of the constitutional amendment — which requires the assent of at least two-thirds of lawmakers — around 224 votes out of a total of 336 members in the lower house. But as of now, it appears that the government is short of at least a dozen votes in both houses.

However, if posturing by government spokespersons is anything to go by, the Shehbaz Sharif administration seems confident it will be able to secure the required numbers of vote to have the amendment passed.

Sessions of both houses of parliament have been summoned this evening (Saturday), with only an hour’s gap. It is unusual for parliament to convene on a weekend, as this usually does not happen outside budget sessions or sitting convened for a specific, time-sensitive issue.

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Although the officially issued agenda for the NA session does not include any mention of the amendment, experience has shown that such items are usually laid before the house as part of a supplementary agenda.

Parties in the ruling coalition — including the PML-N, PPP, MQM and others — have directed their members to stay in the capital over the weekend days to ensure their presence in both houses for the passage of the legislation.

Parliamentary party meetings have been held on an almost daily basis since the start of the current session of the National Assembly, ostensibly in a bid to keep an eye on the availability of their members.

To illustrate their seriousness, a source in the PPP told Dawn that PPP MNA Nafisa Shah, who wanted to proceed to her hometown to celebrate birthday of her father, former Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah, on Friday, but was not allowed to leave the federal capital until the conclusion of the session.

Barrister Aqeel Malik, an aide to the PM on legal affairs, claimed on Friday that the bill to turn the position of the CJP into a tenured post will be tabled today (Saturday).

“The bill will be introduced on Saturday and I think it will be tabled first in the Senate and then in the National Assembly,” he added.

Asked whether the government had the support of the required number of legislators, he said that both houses were summoned to meet after the government did its homework thoroughly.

A senator of the ruling PML-N also told Dawn that the bill — referred to in the media as a ‘Constitutional Package’ as it includes amendments to a number of constitutional articles — was likely to be introduced today (Saturday).

“We have been asked to ensure our presence in parliament on these days,” he said.

Asked whether incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa would also benefit from the bill’s passage, Barrister Aqeel said that once any legislation became part of the Constitution, it applied to all concerned. However, the CJP’s recent clarification seems to indicate that he was not interested in a ‘person-specific’ change to the law, nor was he onboard for an extension in his tenure.

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Despite attempts by opposition parties at enforcing strict discipline among their ranks, it is rumoured that the government had managed to win over some PTI-allied lawmakers who are apparently willing to jump ship to lend their support to the ruling coalition.

The government has also been trying its best to woo JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — a long-time ally of the Sharifs. If he does indeed lend his support to the ‘Constitutional Package’, the government will be in a commanding position in the Senate, but would still be short of around four to five votes in the National Assembly.

A constitutional amendment is passed or rejected through open ballot, in which those who go against their parties’ stance cannot conceal their vote.

An official of the National Assembly Secretariat said that although the government was apparently short of the number of votes it required, past precedent indicated that the amendments could be passed through some backdoor deals.

He quoted the example of the election of incumbent Senate Chairman Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was elected even though the ruling alliance seemingly did not enjoy the support of the required number of senators.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024