Pakistan defers tabling constitutional amendment package as legal fraternity vows to challenge proposals

Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif addresses on the floor of the National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad on May 3, 2023. (@NAofPakistan/X/File)
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Updated 16 September 2024
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Pakistan defers tabling constitutional amendment package as legal fraternity vows to challenge proposals

  • Government was expected to table on Monday constitutional amendments on superior judges’ tenure, process of chief justice’s appointment
  • Prominent jurists describe the amendments as a ‘frontal assault’ on the judicial system that would abolish the trichotomy of power in country

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Monday postponed the tabling in parliament of a history-making “constitutional amendment package” on judicial reforms as several members of the legal fraternity rejected the proposals and challenged them in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The government was expected to table the amendments in the National Assembly and Senate on Monday after it did not do so a day earlier. According to Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, the package includes 52 amendments to the constitution, mostly involving minor wording changes.

The proposed amendments are expected to establish a federal constitutional court, raise the retirement age of superior judges by three years, and modify the process for the appointment of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The matter has raised widespread concerns among opposition parties and independent experts who say the moves are aimed at increasing the government’s power in making key judicial appointments and dealing with the defection of lawmakers during house votes.

The government was initially expected to table the amendments on Sunday, but Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, a senior member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, later said they could not secure the required 224 votes, two-thirds majority, needed to pass the amendments.

“We want and desire complete consensus within the House, so this process will continue, and when all parties agree on this document, this draft will be presented in the House,” Asif said, while speaking in the National Assembly on Monday afternoon.

“We believe that no one will oppose the proposals as we are determined to shape the constitution in line with the agreement in the Charter of Democracy.”

The Charter of Democracy (CoD) was signed between the PML-N and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), two major political parties in Pakistan, on May 14, 2006 in London. The document outlined steps to end the military rule established after the 1999 coup d’état led by late General Pervez Musharraf and to restore democracy in Pakistan.

Asif said the amendments aimed to address “constitutional imbalances” and public representatives would have the right to undo any “intrusions” into parliamentary powers and the constitution.

“A draft has been prepared to address constitutional imbalances, especially those related to parliament, and it is a draft to improve the 19th amendment [on procedure for judicial appointments], and the constitution allows us to do so,” the defense minister said, adding there was no political motivation behind it.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party of jailed former premier Imran Khan has criticized the moves and believes that the amendments are meant to grant an extension to incumbent Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is widely believed to be aligned with the ruling coalition led by PM Shehbaz Sharif and in opposition to its chief rival, the PTI. PTI founder Khan has threatened nationwide protests against the reforms.

Speaking in the National Assembly, a former speaker and Khan aide, Asad Qaiser, strongly condemned the government’s moves and described them as a “mockery” of parliament.

“If you want to bring amendments, definitely bring them but after a proper debate and discussion on it,” he said, adding the government tried to pass amendments in the “dark of the night” and without even briefing its own members on them.

“We will oppose this type of pressure and oppression in the parliament, in the courts, on the road and everywhere.”

Law Minister Tarar said the draft of amendments had not yet been presented before the cabinet, as required under the constitution, and asked opposition parties to come up with positive recommendations, instead of undue criticism.

“A special parliamentary committee has been made, which included members of all political parties, so all are invited to bring suggestions in this regard to the committee,” he said.




Pakistan's Azam Nazeer Tarar (left) is addressing a session of National Assembly in Islamabad, Pakistan on September 16, 2024. (@NAofPakistan/X)

‘SUBSERVIENT' JUDICIARY

Prominent lawyers, including Abid Zuberi, Shafqat Mehmood Chauhan, Shahab Sarki, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan and Munir Kakar, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging the proposed amendments to the constitution.

“Through the instant petition the petitioners seek to challenge the vires of the proposed constitutional package,” they stated in the petition. “The proposed bill puts forth proposed amendments to the constitution that would transfer the vested powers of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the high courts of Pakistan as granted by the constitution to the executive and entirely annihilate the principles of independence of judiciary and suppression of power.”

Munir A Malik, a senior lawyer, said the proposed amendments would abolish the trichotomy of power — executive, legislature and judiciary — under the constitution.

“We will have a judiciary subservient to the executive and this is a frontal assault on the judicial system and the independence of the judiciary,” he told Arab News. “I think every lawyer who believes in the rule of law will stand up against any such step which undermines the independence of judiciary.”

Shaiq Usmani, former chief justice of the Sindh High Court, agreed that there had been a need for a constitutional court, but the proposed amendments were “most ill-timed.

“There is certainly a need for a constitutional court, yes, in a sense because the politicians here are constantly at war with each other and they always run to the Supreme Court to get their disputes resolved. As a result of that, the courts then have to give up commercial and other disputes of ordinary people, while they decide political cases,” he said.

“But this timing was wrong. At this time, when there is complete polarization in the political field, Pakistan is facing tremendous economic problems and so many other issues, so, this was certainly not the time for this sort of a thing. It was most ill-timed and fortunately, because of the fact that they [government] have not been able to get the required majority, it hasn’t been pushed through.”

Sabahat Rizvi, secretary of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, said the government “planned to disturb the unity of the judges” through this constitutional amendment package.

“They want to bring people of their choice, but we have already caused a lot of damage to our country and people through such constitutional amendments,” she told Arab News.

Rizvi said lawyers must unite against any such “attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary,” irrespective of their political affiliations.

“Although lawyers have been divided due to their political affiliations, I would say that on this issue of national importance, they all should unite and come forward,” she said, promising to support any protest movement for this cause.

Arab News tried reaching the government’s spokesperson on legal affairs, Aqeel Malik, for a comment on the developments, but he did not answer the calls and messages.

AMENDMENTS

The coalition government is proposing that the retirement age of Supreme Court and high court judges be increased by three years from the existing 65 and 62 years, respectively. The current chief justice retires on Oct. 25.

The government is also mulling revising the seniority principle in the appointment of the top judge, the coalition government’s spokesperson on legal affairs Aqeel Malik told media last week. At present, according to Article 175A of the Constitution, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court is appointed as the chief justice on the basis of the principle of seniority, but there are widespread reports that the constitutional amendment envisions a five-member panel comprising top court judges as responsible for appointing the chief justice.

The reform package also includes a proposal to allow the transfers of judges from one high court to another and changes to Article 63-A of the Constitution, which relates to the disqualification of legislators who cross party lines in voting for a constitutional amendment.

The amendments have been proposed after a string of Supreme Court judgments that have ostensibly challenged Sharif’s coalition government, mostly notably a July 12 verdict by a 13-member bench of the Supreme Court that declared the PTI eligible for reserved parliamentary seats.

The verdict dealt a major blow to Sharif’s weak ruling coalition, which may lose its two-thirds majority in Pakistan’s parliament if the verdict is implemented. Sharif’s PML-N party has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict.


Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

Updated 12 sec ago
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Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

  • Khan and his wife are accused of receiving expensive land through trust as bribe from real estate tycoon
  • IHC has instructed Pakistani trial court to announce decision on Khan’s acquittal petition, says his party

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday remanded former prime minister Imran Khan’s acquittal petition back to a trial court in a corruption case in which he is accused of receiving land as bribe from a real estate tycoon, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said. 
The corruption case against Khan, or the Al-Qadir Trust case as it has become popularly known, involves accusations that the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, set up a charitable trust named Al-Qadir in 2018 as a front to receive valuable land as gift from real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain. 
The Al-Qadir Trust runs a university outside Pakistan’s capital Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by Khan’s wife who has a reputation as a spiritual healer. Khan and his wife deny any wrongdoing, saying that charges against them are politically motivated. 
In August, the IHC issued a temporary stay barring a trial court from issuing the final order in the case. The former prime minister filed an acquittal plea, which was turned down by an accountability court in September.
“IHC two-member bench has remanded the acquittal petition by Mr. & Mrs. Khan back to the trial court in Al-Qadir Trust case,” the PTI said in a statement. 
The party said the defense counsel had argued that “no personal gains” received by Khan could be established in the case and that the trustees had not benefitted from any transaction. 
“IHC has instructed the trial court to announce the decision on the acquittal petition,” the PTI said. “We are hopeful it’ll lead to ordering the release of both Mr. & Mrs. Khan.”
HOW DID THE BRIBE ALLEGEDLY WORK?
Pakistan’s government says the controversy originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime.
Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Pakistan’s then interior minister Rana Sanaullah said Hussain gave the land to Khan through the Al-Qadir Trust in exchange for that favor. 
Khan, who was removed from office after losing a parliamentary vote in April 2022, continues to remain popular among the masses. He has been languishing in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in four cases. Pakistan’s courts suspended two of the verdicts against Khan while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
Since his ouster from the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military, whom he accuses of colluding with his political rivals to orchestrate his removal and keeping him imprisoned. 
The military and incumbent coalition government deny Khan’s allegations vehemently.


Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

Updated 35 min 16 sec ago
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Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

  • Pakistan and Bangladesh were single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971
  • Historically strained ties have warmed since ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after student-led uprising

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, this week announced a new visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens, offering free business and visit visas with 48-hour processing time as both nations push to thaw historically frosty ties.
Pakistan and Bangladesh share a complex history, having been a single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971 after a war of liberation backed by Pakistan’s arch-rival and neighbor India. Nearly three million people were killed in the conflict.
Ties reached a new low in 2016 when Bangladesh executed several leaders of its Jamaat-e-Islami party on charges of committing war crimes in 1971. Pakistan called the executions and trials “politically motivated,” arguing that the convicts were being punished for taking a pro-Pakistan stance during the independence war.
The bitter ties have warmed since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after a student-led uprising in Bangladesh.
“I’m happy to announce that or to let you know that there are going to be no fees in two visa categories, one is a business visa and the other is a visit visa,” Maroof said on Wednesday.
“It’s a free-of-cost visa for Bangladeshis. Secondly, the visa is decided within 48 hours and thirdly, you don’t have to come to the Pakistan High Commission [to apply for the visa].”


He said Bangladeshi citizens who wanted to visit Pakistan needed to print out a form from the visa website that they would be required to present at the immigration desk in Pakistan in order to get a visa.
“But as a precaution, there are a few things they should always carry with them along with this paper,” he added. “They should have a proper verified place of where they will stay, in a hotel or with some friends or family, and a return ticket.”
Calling the new visa regime “pretty much straightforward and very simplified,” the official said the move would make travel much easier for Bangladeshis wishing to go to Pakistan.
“All in all, the new visa policy is amazing, wonderful and hassle-free,” Maroof concluded.
In September, Pakistan’s foreign office said Islamabad sought “robust, multifaceted relations, friendly relations” with Bangladesh to ensure peace and stability in the South Asian region.


Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

Updated 53 min 51 sec ago
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Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

  • Over 10,000 students participate in activity held during Punjab government-backed youth festival in Lahore
  • Record was previously held by India where 7,368 students formed the waving flag image in March this year 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan smashed India’s record by forming the world’s largest human image of a waving flag in the eastern city of Lahore city, with over 10,000 students participating in the activity this week, state-run media reported on Thursday. 

The new world record was made during the Lahore Youth Festival, organized by the provincial Punjab government and currently underway at the Fortress Stadium in Lahore.

“Pakistan has set a new world record by making the largest human flag,” Radio Pakistan said. “The record was achieved by the students of Army Public School Lahore who participated in the formation of the flag.”

The Guinness World Record website showed that the record for the largest human image of a waving flag was last held by India where 7,368 students formed the flag in March this year in Sonipat. 

State media in Pakistan widely reported on Thursday that Pakistan had now broken India’s record, with over 10,000 students from the Army Public School in Lahore forming the image of the nation’s flag. 

The national flag of Pakistan, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent, is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descending crescent moon, and five-pointed star at its center, and a vertical white stripe at its hoist-end. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Aug. 11, 1947, and became the official flag of Pakistan on Aug. 14, following independence from the British Empire. 

The flag is referred to in the third verse of Pakistan’s national anthem and is widely flown on several important days of the year, including Republic Day, Independence Day and Defense Day. It is also hoisted every morning at schools, offices and government buildings to the playing of the national anthem and lowered again before sunset.


‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

Updated 07 November 2024
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‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

  • Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan, she has also worked in Bollywood 
  • In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes including women and child rights, the refugee crisis

ISLAMABAD: British Parliament has bestowed an ‘Award of Recognition’ on Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan for “remarkable contributions” to global cinema and her role as a cultural ambassador, with the star saying the recognition was a win for “women’s empowerment.”

Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan where she is the recipient of several accolades, including seven Lux Style Awards and seven Hum Awards. She has also made a mark in international cinema with her performances in ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ (2022) and Bollywood flick ‘Raees’ (2017) alongside India’s Shah Rukh Khan. In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes such as women’s rights, the refugee crisis, and is vocal about issues such as child abuse and sexual harassment. Khan has worked with UNICEF since 2019 and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 2019.

A gathering was hosted by MP Afzal Khan at the UK Parliament to present her with the award, which recognized her as a “distinguished icon in the world of entertainment.”

“I am a proud Pakistani sitting here receiving this award,” Khan said in her speech at the ceremony. 

“I am very happy at receiving the award because this award is for women empowerment,” she later told reporters. “For me, since I started to work, I have worked with the aim to open doors for other girls, make things easier for them, so that when they come they don’t face the difficulties I did.”

Khan said there had been a lot of advancement in Pakistan’s showbiz industry in the last few years with greater gender equality and pay parity.

“There are women now who charge more than men,” she said. “There is pay parity.”

Dr. Sarah Naeem, the wife of the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, said Khan had become a role model for women and young girls in Pakistan “through hard work, dedication to profession and championing women’s rights.”

“Mahira Khan has demonstrated, through her international career, that Pakistani women are able to prove their mettle across borders,” Dr. Naeem added. 


Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

  • Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh will bring together heads of state and governments from Muslim countries
  • Visit will be Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as both sides bolster economic collaboration

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia next week to attend the second Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the foreign office said on Thursday, where he will emphasize Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestine.
The visit marks Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia strengthen economic ties, having recently signed 34 memoranda of understanding and agreements totaling $2.8 billion.
The summit, convened at Saudi Arabia’s initiative, will address escalating tensions in the Middle East, where Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon have intensified, while tensions between Iran and Tel Aviv have led to recent missile exchanges.
Foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch noted in her weekly briefing that the summit builds on the extraordinary gathering held on November 11, 2023, focused on Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the second joint Arab-Islamic Summit being held in Riyadh on 11th of November,” she said.
“Heads of state and government and senior officials from Arab League and OIC [Organization of Islamic Cooperation] member countries are expected to participate in the summit,” she added. “The prime minister will reiterate Pakistan’s full support for the Palestinian cause, calling for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Sharif is expected to advocate for an urgent, unconditional ceasefire and a halt to Israeli military actions that threaten Middle Eastern security, according to the spokesperson.
Pakistan will also push for international protection for Palestinians and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“On the sidelines of the summit,” Baloch continued, “the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other Arab League and OIC member states.”
Amid ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, Pakistan has dispatched over a dozen relief consignments to Gaza and Lebanon and provided diplomatic support, urging the international community to hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government accountable for its actions in the region.