ISLAMABAD: Experts on Monday described a 26th amendment to the constitution as an attempt to curtail the judiciary and make it subservient to politicians as the government moved forward with its implementation, saying the new law will ensure parliamentary oversight in judicial affairs.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law the contentious amendment, passed by the country’s parliament, that capped the tenure of the country’s top judge at three years and made key changes relating to the appointment of judges in Pakistan among other things.
The ruling coalition had the amendment passed by both houses of parliament on Sunday night amid opposition from former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the legal fraternity, who argued it was an attempt to curtail the independence of the judiciary. The government denied this.
“The 26th Constitutional Amendment is not only against basic fundamental human rights but it has also weakened the judiciary by making it subservient to politicians, who are often litigants themselves,” Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, former president of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Bar Association and a member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), told Arab News.
He said the amendment would “undermine meritocracy and promote favoritism” by giving the right of judicial appointments to parliament.
“The government will have a majority in the parliamentary committee and will appoint judges who serve their interests rather than justice,” Ishtiaq added.
The 26th Constitutional Amendment, 2024 states that a 12-member parliamentary committee will appoint the chief justice from a panel of the three senior-most judges of the top court. The committee comprising eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate will propose the name to the prime minister, who will then forward it to the president for final approval. The top judge will be appointed for a period of three years and will retire upon reaching the age of 65 years.
Another clause of the bill states that the Supreme Court judges will be appointed by a judicial commission, led by the chief justice and comprising three senior judges, one member each from the National Assembly and the Senate, federal law minister, attorney general of Pakistan, and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council having not less than 15 years of practice in the Supreme Court. The commission will also monitor judges’ performance and report any concerns to the Supreme Judicial Council.
Political commentator Aasiya Riaz said the amendment had significant political and legal ramifications as it would change the “structure of the judiciary for the foreseeable future.”
“The change in process of appointment of judges in higher judiciary has meant that the annihilation of the system is now complete and if there was ever an opportunity that any judge could act on the basis of right and wrong alone, that has been taken care of,” she said.
Since the appointments are now to be made on political considerations of the ruling parties that have a track record of being “compliant and subservient to the political pressures,” leadership of the judiciary will also now be picked on that basis, according to Riaz.
“The amendment has taken care of any chance of a likely leadership in the judiciary not susceptible to playing ball with the military establishment,” she said.
“It has also, at least for the foreseeable future, taken care of the likely political fortunes of Imran Khan, which were apparently coming his way if the existing process of appointment of senior most judge in the Supreme Court was followed.”
PTI spokesperson Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari said the amendment had clear political implications as the government was attempting to eliminate any threat from the judiciary that could “hinder their political ambitions in the future.”
“As for legally, this has completely clipped the judiciary’s wings and it has also made the chief justice of Pakistan irrelevant to a very large extent,” he told Arab News.
Barrister Aqeel Malik, the government’s legal adviser, denied the claims that the amendment curtailed the powers of the judiciary in any way.
“This in no way curtails the judiciary’s powers, but it does ensure parliamentary oversight and a greater role in the selection and appointment of judges, all within the constitutional framework,” he told Arab News.
Malik said the process of appointing judges to high courts as well as selecting the chief justice from a panel of three senior most judges required greater parliamentary oversight and input.
“This will ensure that not just the seniority principle, but of course other considerations such as legal wisdom, acumen and overall general administrative experience,” he added.
Malik said the formation of the parliamentary committee would be completed on Monday and it would begin working immediately on the appointment of the new chief justice.
“As outlined in the amendment, a special parliamentary committee of 12 members will begin its deliberations today or tomorrow, three days before the current chief justice’s retirement and they have until Oct. 23 to send their recommendations, based on a majority vote among the three senior-most judges for the appointment of the chief justice of Pakistan for a three-year term,” he said.
“This does not mean that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is not under consideration, with all three candidates receiving due consideration despite the constitutional amendments, he remains a strong candidate for the position of the chief justice of Pakistan.”
Asked about the PTI’s future course of action, Bukhari said it was obvious that the party would have to “bear the brunt of this constitutional amendment results.”
“There is only one course of action and that is the only thing that can save the judiciary and save democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan and that is nationwide protest at a large scale,” he said.
Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) think tank, said the amendment was brought as superior courts had been asserting themselves on “political, economic and purely executive decision-making in the country.”
“A reaction had been building within politicians and parliament to this situation and the passed amendment is mainly a way to restrict the courts so that they are unable to pass judgments which sometime even defy constitution,” he told Arab News.
“After this amendment, chief justice will be selected by a parliamentary committee, a constitutional bench within the Supreme Court will become a kind of court within the court resulting in a chief justice who will be much less powerful than before and parliament will be in a more powerful position,” he said.
Mehboob said the implementation of the amendment would tell whether a balance is attained between the judiciary and parliament, or the pendulum has swung to the other extreme.
“If implemented maturely, it may lead to greater political and economic stability,” he added.
Experts say 26th constitutional amendment ‘threatens’ judiciary’s independence as government refutes claim
https://arab.news/j8mbm
Experts say 26th constitutional amendment ‘threatens’ judiciary’s independence as government refutes claim
- The amendment states a 12-member parliamentary committee will appoint the chief justice from a panel of three senior-most judges
- Aqeel Malik, the government’s adviser on legal matters, says a name for the new chief justice will be finalized in the next few days
Pakistan Taliban claim raid killing 16 soldiers in northwestern province
- Officials confirm privately militants set fire to the wireless communication equipment, documents
- Pakistan’s military has not issued a statement on the siege of its outpost that lasted for two hours
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Taliban claimed a brazen overnight raid on an army outpost near the border with Afghanistan on Saturday, which intelligence officials said killed 16 soldiers and critically wounded five more.
The siege started after midnight and lasted about two hours as around 30 militants pummelled the mountainous outpost from three sides, one senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“Sixteen soldiers were martyred and five were critically injured in the assault,” he said. “The militants set fire to the wireless communication equipment, documents and other items present at the checkpoint.”
A second intelligence official also anonymously confirmed the toll of dead and wounded in the attack in the Makeen area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Afghan border.
Pakistan’s domestic chapter of the Taliban claimed the attack in a statement, saying it was staged “in retaliation for the martyrdom of our senior commanders.”
The group claimed to have seized a hoard of military gear including machine guns and a night vision device.
Pakistan’s military has not yet issued a statement on the incident.
Pakistan has been battling a resurgence of militant violence in its western border regions since the Taliban’s 2021 return to power in Afghanistan.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants staging attacks on Pakistan from over the border.
The Pakistani Taliban — known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — share a common ideology with their Afghan counterparts who surged back to power three years ago.
Kabul’s new rulers have pledged to evict foreign militant groups from Afghan soil.
But a UN Security Council report in July estimated up to 6,500 TTP fighters are based there — and said “the Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group.”
The report said the Afghan Taliban show “ad hoc support to, and tolerance of, TTP operations, including the supplying of weapons and permission for training.”
The spike in attacks has soured Islamabad-Kabul relations. Security was cited as one reason for Pakistan’s campaign last year to evict hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan migrants.
Pakistan military sentences 25 to prison over May 9 violence, with more verdicts expected
- The sentencing is likely to raise concerns among PTI since Imran Khan faces charges of inciting people
- The ISPR says justice will truly be served when the ‘mastermind and planners’ of May 9 are punished
KARACHI: The Pakistan military on Saturday sentenced 25 people to prison for participating in the violent protests that erupted on May 9, 2023, when hundreds carrying the party flags of former Prime Minister Imran Khan attacked government buildings and vandalized military properties.
The protests, which broke out in different Pakistani cities, followed Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges from an Islamabad court, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments.
Subsequently, hundreds of leaders and supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were imprisoned, despite their denial of involvement in violence and claims that the May 9 incident was a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing their party.
The government and military also asserted they had gathered ample evidence that the attack on the country’s most powerful institution was carefully planned and executed by the PTI leadership, sharing videos of the attacks showing people setting fire to government and military properties.
“On 9 May 2023, nation witnessed tragic incidents of politically provoked violence and arson at multiple places, marking a dark chapter in the history of Pakistan,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement, listing down names of all 25 people with sentences ranging from two to 10 years. “Building on a sustained narrative of hate and lies, politically orchestrated attacks were carried out on the installations of the Armed Forces including desecration of the monuments of Shuhada [martyrs].”
It informed that it gathered “irrefutable evidence” against these people after conducting investigations to prosecute those arrested in the wake of the incident. “This is an important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation,” the ISPR added. “It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands ever in the future.”
The statement informed the military would share the details of other individuals whose cases had also been referred to the Field General Court Martial.
The ISPR said its announced followed a ruling by a seven-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 13 in which it allowed the military courts to share its verdict.
Prior to that, the court had unanimously declared last year that prosecuting civilians in military courts was in violation of the Constitution.
The sentencing of 25 individuals is likely to raise concerns among supporters of Imran Khan, who faces charges of inciting attacks against the armed forces and may potentially be tried in a military court.
The ISPR noted that many accused in the May 9 attacks are also facing trials in various anti-terrorism courts.
“However, justice would truly be fully served once the mastermind and planners of 9th May Tragedy are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land,” it added.
The statement highlighted the significance of establishing “inviolable writ of the State,” as it pointed out that all convicts retained the right to appeal, as guaranteed by the law and the constitution.
Scoop of deceit: Pakistan’s competition watchdog freezes multinationals’ misleading ice cream ads
- Manufacturers of “Walls” and “Omore” have been penalized for passing off ‘frozen desserts’ as ice cream
- The Competition Commission of Pakistan has imposed Rs75 million of fine on each of the two companies
KARACHI: In a chilling blow to “deceptive marketing,” the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Friday imposed a hefty fine of Rs75 million ($269,530) each on two multinational companies, Unilever Pakistan and Friesland Campina Engro, for misleading consumers by advertising their products as “ice cream.”
The CCP took action following a complaint by Pakistan Fruit Juice Company, the manufacturer of “Hico,” which objected to the marketing practices adopted by its rivals.
The CCP maintained that the two companies were selling “frozen desserts” while passing them off as ice cream, a distinct product category made from milk, cream or other dairy products.
“It is held that a false and misleading impression of ‘frozen dessert’ as ‘ice cream’ was created and continued by the Respondents through their advertisements, in order to make the consumers believe that ‘frozen dessert’ products are also ‘ice cream,’” the CCP said in its written order.
“The Respondents advertised, labelled and marketed their products without disclosing the true nature of their products as frozen desserts,” it continued, adding that the two companies “took economic advantage of their deceptive marketing
practices to the detriment of consumers welfare.”
The CCP’s ruling referenced the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018, which define “frozen dessert” and “ice cream” as distinct products.
According to these standards, “ice cream” is made from milk, cream, or other dairy products, while “frozen desserts” are prepared from a pasteurized mix consisting of edible vegetable oils and other ingredients.
The CCP also noted that other countries, including the US, India and Australia, maintain the same standards, where the term “ice cream” can only be applied to dairy-based products.
The commission instructed the companies to stop their current marketing practices and remove advertisements presenting frozen desserts as ice cream.
It instructed them to provide clear disclosures about their products’ nature and ingredients, adding that failure to comply with the verdict within 30 days would result in additional fines.
Government to form committee to negotiate with Imran Khan’s party ‘within days’ — adviser
- Rana Sanaullah says all outstanding issues causing political polarization can come under discussion
- Khan has threatened civil disobedience if the government doesn’t implement his demands by Dec. 22
ISLAMABAD: The government will set up a committee “in a day or two” to negotiate with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said the adviser to the country’s prime minister on political affairs on Friday, adding it was possible to discuss all outstanding issues causing political polarization in the country.
The move comes as PTI founder and former Pakistan premier, Imran Khan, threatened to launch civil disobedience by asking overseas nationals, who widely support his party, to stop sending remittances if the government does not implement his demands, including the release of political prisoners, by Dec. 22.
Khan himself remains incarcerated for over a year on charges that he says are politically motivated to keep him away from power. He has also demanded judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 26 this year in which the government says supporters of PTI partook in violence and caused vandalism.
The ex-premier has already established a negotiating committee to talk to the government.
“The [National Assembly] Speaker [Ayaz Saddiq] has contacted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in this regard,” Rana Sanaullah, Sharif’s political adviser, told Geo TV in an interview. “My own sense is that there will be a breakthrough on this [setting up on the negotiating committee] in another day or two.”
The country has remained in the grip of political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power in a parliamentary no-confidence vote, which also led to economic hardships for Pakistan.
The country’s national economy heavily depends on remittances by overseas Pakistanis who contributed about $30 billion in fiscal year 2023-24.
Khan has also warned the government not to project the PTI’s offer for negotiations as a sign of “surrender.”
Sanaullah said during his interview negotiations could help both sides find a way out of the current political impasse.
However, he said it was premature to say which ones of the PTI’s demands would be met.
“If they force us to accept these demands before the talks, then what is the need for these negotiations,” he asked.
Pakistan to launch first women’s software technology park in Azad Kashmir next year
- The tech facility will bridge the region’s gender-based digital divide and become operational in February
- Over 18,000 professionals are employed across 43 IT parks in Pakistan, of which 20 percent are women
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan announced on Friday its plan to establish the country’s first women’s software technology park in Azad Kashmir, aiming to bridge the region’s gender-based digital divide and targeting a launch in February.
The decision was made during a meeting of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), chaired by Minister of State for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja, which assessed the overall performance of the country’s IT sector.
The move is part of the government’s broader plan, unveiled in May, to set up 10 new software technology parks nationwide by next year, including one in the federal capital.
These parks will feature incubation centers and other facilities to support start-ups, expand Pakistan’s digital landscape, increase IT exports and promote gender inclusivity in the tech sector.
“The initiative [to set up the software technology park in Azad Kashmir] underscores our dedication to creating equal opportunities for women and ensuring their meaningful participation in Pakistan’s digital economy,” the minister was quoted as saying in an official statement circulated after the meeting.
The statement informed that 20 percent of workforce in PSEB-supported software technology parks comprises female IT professionals.
Over 18,000 export professionals are currently employed across 43 IT parks in Pakistan.
The PSEB’s initiatives since 2020 have also resulted in more than 10,000 job placements through targeted training, certifications and internship programs.
The organization aims to empower 25,000 freelancers by 2027 by establishing 250 e-Employment Center’s and expand the footprint of the country’s IT sector abroad.
