Pakistan’s Senate passes constitutional amendment bill

Pakistan’s Senate on Sunday (October 20, 2024) passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill, capping Pakistan’s Chief Justice tenure for three years, amid opposition from jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party.

The upper house of the parliament voted 65-4 to approve the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with the required two-thirds majority. The government needed the support of 64 members.

The Bill, approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day with the consensus among the ruling coalition partners, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

“I… wish to introduce a bill further to amend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Constitution 26th Amendment Bill, 2024,” Mr. Tarar said as he presented the Bill in the upper house.

“Is it opposed?” asked Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, to which he received no response from the Senate members.

The Bill included 22 clauses of amendments. The upper house passed the Bill clause-wise and all clauses got the support of 65 senators.

The magic number was achieved after Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s five senators and two lawmakers of Balochistan National Party-Mengal voted in favour of the bill. The BNP-M favoured the amendment despite, violating the party line to abstain during the process.

“Sixty-five members are in favour of the motion regarding the bill and four oppose the bill….and consequently the bill has been passed,” Gilani said, announcing the result.

The Bill set up a 12-member commission to appoint the chief justice who will be appointed for three years.

The Bill will now go to the National Assembly, where it needs a two-thirds majority to clear the hurdle. Finally, it should receive the nod of the president to become part of the constitution.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet approved the proposed draft of the controversial bill during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after seeking consensus from the coalition partners, his office said.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the cabinet decided to approve the bill “in the wider interest of the country while adhering to the oath of national development and public welfare.” Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz met with President Asif Ali Zardari for detailed discussions on the proposed constitutional amendment, during which the president was briefed and consulted, Express News reported.

Addressing a press conference before the start of the Senate session, Law Minister Tarar said that a new body is being created to appoint the judges. He said before the 18th Amendment, judges were appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

He said the ‘new-face’ commission would consist of the Chief Justice, four senior-most apex court judges, two senators and two national assembly members MNAs – one of each will be from the opposition.

He said that the changes in the law would help to expedite the dispensation of justice by the apex court.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Zafar was the first to speak in the Senate on the bill.

In a scathing criticism, he accused his party lawmakers of being forced to vote in favour of the bill. He said his party senators were absent as they feared abduction to be forced to vote for the government.

“It is against the law and morality that coercion is being applied to get the amendment approved,” he said while speaking in the Senate.

He also urged the chairman senate not to count the vote of any PTI senator if any of them voted in the senate. Zafar came to the house to give his party position despite his party saying in a statement that its political committee decided to boycott the voting process in both houses of the parliament.

Earlier, after a meeting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the party had “no objections” to the final draft, but will not vote on the bill when it is presented in parliament.

“Our leader Imran Khan will always have the final say on party decisions, so we act on his instructions and recommendations,” he said. “He (Imran) instructed us to have more consultations before voting since this legislation is so serious.” Rehman said on the occasion that he had no objections to the PTI’s decision to not vote on the bill.

“We have reached a consensus with the PTI, but given their condition and what they have been through, it is their right to boycott the vote,” Fazl said.

“We have made efforts, but if a party has a strong position, we will accept that,” he added.

Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who made elaborate efforts for the bill to be passed, said that the government would move forward with the amendment whether the PTI voted in favour of it or not.

“We have waited for as long as we could, and today, under any circumstance, this work will be completed,” Bilawal said while speaking to reports at the Senate.

The coalition government is highly optimistic about getting the much-anticipated 26th Constitutional Amendment passed in parliament.

Strict security arrangements have been made for today’s session of the National Assembly, with guest entry strictly prohibited, according to the assembly’s spokesperson.

A constitutional amendment requires separate passage in the National Assembly and Senate, with a two-thirds majority vote.

Earlier, the government lacked the required numbers in the Senate and the National Assembly. However, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that the government now has the support to reach the required numbers.

If passed, the government could block Justice Masoor Ali Shah from succeeding the current Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa, upon his retirement. Isa is set to retire on October 25 after reaching superannuation, which is 65 years.

The original idea of extending the retirement age of judges from 65 to 68 is also not part of the amendment.

To succeed, the bill should be passed before the October 25 deadline to complete the formalities for setting up the special panel.

To pass the amendment, the governed needs 224 votes in the 336-member National Assembly. The current coalition strength in the NA is 213.

The government was forced to delay tabling the amendment bill in Parliament last month after its efforts to get Rehman’s support failed.