Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Opposition leader in National Assembly and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Secretary General, Omar Ayub Khan, has called on the government to immediately announce the name of the new chief justice, replacing CJP Qazi Faez Isa, amid specualtions of a possible tenure extension.
Addressing the National Assembly on Monday, Ayub stressed that the government should promptly reveal the new chief justice’s name in the current circumstances. He warned of strong protests if any legislation on this matter is introduced.
Ayub demanded that the law minister clarify the situation regarding the appointment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. In response, Federal Minister for Law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, provided an explanation to the assembly.
Minister Tarar stated that, under the existing Constitution and laws, a senior judge from the high courts could be appointed as chief justice by the Judicial Commission and Parliamentary Committee. He noted that a judge from the Lahore High Court, ranked fifth in seniority, had been appointed Chief Justice by the Judicial Commission.
According to Tarar, the 18th Amendment mandates that the most senior judge be appointed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. “The matter of appointing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can only proceed in accordance with the Constitution,” he said.
Omar Ayub also thanked Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for issuing production orders for Haji ImtiazbChaudhry, allowing him to attend the session. “This is a commendable tradition, and I want to praise Ayaz Sadiq for it,” Ayub remarked.
Meanwhile, the House passed “The Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2024.” According to the statement of objects and reasons, the bill is aimed at amending Section 17(3) of the ICT Local Government Act, 2015 and words “People’s Representative Act, 1976” will be substituted with the “Elections Act, 2017.
The brief facts leading to amendment in Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015 are that Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act was promulgated in 2015 to establish an elected Local Government System. The term of Local Government of ICT expired on 14.2.2021 and the Federal Government and the Election Commission are obligated to conduct the elections within 120 days in terms of Section 219 (4) of the Elections Act, 2017.
In order to complete necessary arrangements for conduct of Local Government Elections in Islamabad, the ECP asked for issuance of notification regarding number of reserved seats of Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad and amendment in Section-17 of the ICT Local
Government Act, 2015 to the effect that “the Representation of the People Act, 1976” should be replaced with “Elections Act, 2017”.
