Islamabad: Pakistan’s National Assembly (Parliament) early Monday approved the amended bill limiting the tenure of the Chief Justice after an overnight discussion. Of the 336 members of the National Assembly, 225 supported the proposed bill. On Sunday itself, the Senate had given the green signal to the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with two-thirds majority. President Asif Ali Zardari later gave his assent to the bill, which became law after his signature. According to a notification from the National Assembly Secretariat, the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024 has received the assent of the President. The opposition alleges that the bill aims to reduce the powers of the independent judiciary. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Sunni-Ittehad Council (SIC) opposed the amendment bill. However, six independent members who won seats with the support of PTI supported the bill.
Government collected necessary data for support
The government needed 224 votes to pass the bill. A two-thirds majority is required to approve the amendment and the Senate voted 65 to four to approve the amendment on Sunday. The ruling coalition needed the support of 64 members in the upper house of parliament.
The bill includes several constitutional amendments, including setting up a special commission to appoint one of the three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court as Chief Justice. Introducing the bill in this session of the Senate, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said the new-faced commission will include the Chief Justice, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, two senators and two Members of the National Assembly (MNA). Of the two members each of the Senate and National Assembly, one each will be from the opposition party.
What will happen after the amendment?
This amendment prohibits the senior most judge of the Supreme Court from being promoted to the post of Chief Justice on his own after the retirement of the current Chief Justice. According to a statement issued from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), ahead of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met President Asif Ali Zardari for detailed discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment, briefed him and consulted him.
However, the opposition alleged that the entire exercise was aimed at stalling the appointment of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah so that he could not become the Chief Justice upon the retirement of current Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa on October 25. PTI leader Hammad Azhar termed the amendment as a fatal attack on the independence of the judiciary and said that giving the government the right to appoint judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts would lead to politicization of the judiciary.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who led extensive efforts to get the bill passed, said the government will move forward with the amendment whether PTI votes in favor of it or not. Bilawal told media persons that we waited as much as we could and today the work will be completed under any circumstances.