The government has decided to present the much-awaited constitutional amendments during the next session of the National Assembly.
Senator Irfan Siddiqui, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Senate and chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, confirmed this.
After a three-hour committee meeting, Senator Siddiqui stated that a detailed briefing on the amendments had been given.
He added that Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not object to the changes in principle but had asked for more time and assurances on the numbers.
According to Irfan, there is no problem with the numbers game because the required votes are already there.
Irfan noted that the sessions of both houses of Parliament are likely to be adjourned indefinitely later today.
Once consensus is reached in the committee, the constitutional amendments will be introduced at the new session.
Irfan also commented on the role of the Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) in the process, saying that PTI members do not have the authority to give guarantees, highlighting the internal challenges the party is facing. He added that the government is understanding of the constraints faced by the PTI.
The delay in tabling the amendments reflects the government’s ongoing efforts to ensure consensus among political leaders before continuing the legislative process.
Stalemate delays draft constitution
In an ongoing political stalemate, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government and Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chairman Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday reached an impasse over the proposed constitutional package.
Both the National Assembly and the Senate, which had urgently convened to pass the bill, ended their sessions without making any progress as the political leadership failed to agree on a draft amendment in a series of meetings that lasted throughout the day, thus prolonging the political deadlock and delaying any possible solution.
After changing the timing of the Federal Cabinet meeting and Parliament sessions, efforts were made at Maulana’s residence and during the meetings of the Special Committee in the Parliament House to reach a consensus on the amendments to the package.
The special committee met regularly under the chairmanship of Khursheed Shah of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), but it ended without resolving the contentious issues. Thus, the impasse over constitutional amendments also remained unresolved.
The government presented the main points of the proposed changes, but the draft was not presented to anyone. However, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the draft had been presented to the JUI-F leadership.
JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri, however, told The Express Tribune that no draft had been submitted to the party and everything had been discussed verbally, adding that it was difficult to support things that had not been submitted in writing.
The opposition, including the Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI), argued that it was premature to commit to details once the draft was available. After the committee meeting, PPP chairman Khursheed Shah said that deliberations in the committee were still ongoing.
Khursheed Shah said that the draft of the proposed constitutional amendments could not be published until it was approved by the federal cabinet – a prerequisite for the passage of the constitutional amendment bills before their passage by Parliament.
According to sources, an impasse remains over the extension of the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the establishment of constitutional courts.
They said the JUI-F has so far opposed any extension and raised several questions.
