Govt’s draft bill on constitutional amendments ‘completely rejected’, Fazl says after PTI luncheon

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said the government’s proposed amendments as part of a new controversial ‘Consti­tutional Package’ was “completely rejected” by him.
The package is a set of amendments to the Constitution, one of which will aim to fix the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years. The much-touted package could not see the light of day on Monday either after failing to be presented on Sunday, as the government backed out of tabling the proposed amendments in parliament, saying that it would bring the legislation before the house after a consensus had been achieved.

Despite its tall claims of having the required numbers for the passage of a constitutional amendment, the key reason behind shying away from tabling the amendments — for now — appears to be the JUI-F’s stonewalling tactics.

Efforts to engage the Maulana, however, continued through backdoor channels.
Though it was not tabled in parliament, the draft for the proposed constitutional amendments began circulating on mainstream and social media on Monday morning, giving the public a peep into the government’s plan for the judiciary.
As part of ongoing engagements related to the bill, PTI MNA Asad Qaiser held a luncheon today for Fazl that was attended by former president Arif Alvi and other opposition leaders as well.

Responding to questions from reporters after the meeting, Fazl said: “At this time we have completely rejected their draft, instead, they have been [forced] to say that they don’t even have a draft.
“Then what was the [draft] that was provided [to us in the special committee session?] What game was it, that it was provided to someone and not to others? Whatever was given to us and after we looked at it, it did not seem acceptable to us in any way.”
He said there could be no bigger betrayal of the country and the nation’s trust if the draft bill was supported.

Separately, Qaiser said the opposition had decided to move forward on all matters after consultation.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also paid a visit to Fazl at his home where the two discussed the current political scenario.

Meanwhile, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui downplayed Fazl’s remarks in an interview on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’. He said Fazl did not fundamentally oppose any of the amendments in meetings over the weekend, saying the JUI-F chief did not point to any particular points he had issues with.
Siddiqui said he believed that Fazl’s draft or the one under discussion between the JUI-F and PPP would be close to the amendments floated by the government.
“It is very important for the maulana to be involved in [passing] the amendments otherwise it will not be possible.”
He asserted that the final bill would be closer to the current draft and the government couldn’t pass a completely new draft.
Siddiqui said there were “three to five” versions of the draft bill circulating in the media.