PTI boycotts joint committee proceedings on ‘pre-decided’ 27th Amendment

• Govt reducing Supreme Court to “appellate court”: Senator Zafar.
• PTI leader says tweaks to protect president from accountability.
• Senator Zafar slams PPP for backing PML-N’s proposals.
  

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday refused to take part in the process for the tabling and passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, calling it a “pre-decided” exercise.

The party’s opposition to the proposed amendment comes shortly after Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Senate, which was referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, where he was flanked by opposition leaders, PTI’s Senator Ali Zafar said that government members handed them a draft comprising 50 amendments.

“These amendments are being made secretly,” he said, adding that opposition members were asked to present their stance in the standing committee.

“We have not even read a single word of it — how could we appear before the committee?” asked Senator Zafar.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led federal government has proposed abolishing the “Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee” (CJCSC) position and introducing a new title, “Chief of Defence Forces” in the proposed amendment.

Proposals also include sweeping reforms to the judicial framework, including the establishment of a Constitutional Court, the president and prime minister having a central role in the appointment of judges, and transferring certain constitutional authorities from the Supreme Court to the proposed Constitutional Court.

Additionally, parliament would be empowered to determine the number of judges serving in the Constitutional Court.

Senator Zafar noted that the 18th Amendment was passed after a year of consultation, in contrast to what he described as a “staged drama” surrounding the 27th Amendment.

He also criticised the proposal for presidential exemptions, saying that the government was planning to shield the president from being held accountable for life.

The PTI leader stated that the proposed amendment would abolish Article 184, which the Supreme Court invokes to safeguard fundamental rights. “The spirit of the 1973 Constitution is being changed.”

“Through these amendments, the Supreme Court is being dismantled. It would be reduced to a mere appellate court,” he said.

Senator Zafar announced PTI’s opposition to the tweaks, saying that his party “would not become part of the conspiracy against the Constitution”.

Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Head Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas described the amendments as “an attack on the integrity of Pakistan’s Constitution”.

Recalling the consensus built on the 18th Constitutional Amendment, he said that parliamentarians were “coerced and threatened” during the passage of the 26th Amendment.

“This parliament does not represent the people of Pakistan. The amendment will end the very status of parliament,” he said.