A few opposition dissident MPs provided the government with vital assistance, enabling it to secure 225 of the 224 votes needed.
A set of constitutional reforms that Pakistan’s administration claimed would prevent the nation’s courts from rendering decisions that “interfere in parliament” were barely approved by the government on Monday.
The chief justice of Pakistan will henceforth be chosen by a parliamentary committee and hold office for a fixed period of three years, as per the judicial reforms approved at a late-night session of parliament.
It will also create a new bench for the constitution.
As the government courted support from smaller religious groups on Saturday, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif stated, “The goal of the amendments is to block the judicial verdicts that interfere in parliament.”
“Everybody agrees that we will not compromise on the supremacy of the parliament.”
With the support of the Pakistan People’s Party, a religious organization regarded as an ally of opposition leader Imran Khan, and its longtime opponent turned ally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party managed to pull together a two-thirds majority.
A few “victories”
With the vital assistance of a few rebel MPs from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, the government secured 225 of the 224 votes needed to win, according to state media that aired the session.
Despite offers to soften the revisions and reach a compromise agreement, the PTI, the largest group in parliament, has declined to support the package, according to analysts.
These changes have the effect of stifling a free judiciary. During the meeting, PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan, the head of the opposition in the National Assembly, declared, “They do not represent the people of Pakistan.”
The Supreme Court’s chief justice, Qazi Faez Isa, is scheduled to retire in a few days after the revisions take effect.
In accordance with the old legislation, he would have been immediately succeeded by the senior judge behind him, Mansoor Ali Shah at the moment, who has a history of handing down decisions that are seen to be in Khan’s and his party’s best interests.
According to analyst Bilal Gilani, the chairman of Pakistan’s top polling organization, there are certain “wins” with the modifications, one of which is that they balance off the judiciary’s activism.
“A more sinister side of this amendment creates a judiciary that is more pliant with the concerns of the government,” he stated.
