ISLAMABAD, May 19: The Pakistan People’s Party has almost completed a draft of the 18th Constitution Amendment Bill, aimed at carving the way for reinstating the deposed judges and “balancing the powers between the president and the prime minister”.

Sources told Dawn that the PPP leadership was set to table the bill in the National Assembly and reinstate the judges through a resolution in a joint sitting of the two houses of parliament by the end of the current month.

The party’s co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, on Monday put off his planned visit to Balochistan and held lengthy consultations with Law Minister Farooq Naek and other legal experts on the draft. Mr Zardari has convened a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Islamabad on May 24 to take it into confidence on the draft and the proposed resolution on the judges’ issue.

It will be the first time that the party leadership will take CEC members into confidence on the issue.

After taking the CEC into confidence, PPP leadership will contact its coalition partners -- PML-N, ANP and JUI-F.

The sources said the party wanted to end the judicial crisis before the budget session of the National Assembly, expected in the first week of June. The party leadership, it has been learnt, is even prepared for a delayed budget session.

The sources said Article 58(2b) of the Constitution was going to be repealed through the proposed bill. The provision empowers the president to dissolve the National Assembly. It was repealed by the second government of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, but was re-introduced through the Legal Framework Order (LFO) by President Musharraf. It was later validated by parliament through the 17th Amendment.

An amendment to Article 6 (high treason) and other relevant acts is also on the cards to deter judges from taking a fresh oath of allegiance to military rulers through Provisional Constitution Order and validating abrogation or suspension of the Constitution. The amendment will hold such judges as guilty of conniving with a dictator and render them liable to be tried under the treason act.

It is not clear what conditions will be attached to the reinstatement of the judges. A reduction in the tenure of the chief justice is being seen by observers as quite likely.

The sources said Mr Zardari would hold more consultations with his legal aides on the issue over the next couple of days.

Under the proposed package, the president would lose the power to appoint the army chief, other services chiefs and the chief election commissioner (CEC), the sources said.

It would bring about a fundamental change in the process of appointing the CEC and provide financial autonomy to the Election Commission in line with the Charter of Democracy.

Under the charter, the CEC should be appointed on the advice of the prime minister through a committee comprising the leader of the opposition and representatives of all parties having representation in parliament.

The committee will also have the power to conduct public hearings before finalising the name.

According to a handout issued by the ‘Zardari House press office’, the scheduled visit of the PPP co-chairman to Balochistan had been postponed because of an extensive consultation process being held by Mr Zardari with his legal team for finalising the constitutional package.

“This constitutional package is aimed at strengthening the judiciary as an institution and blocking the way for any adventurer to undermine it in future. It also ensures parliamentary supremacy in the constitutional scheme,” it concluded.