IN a significant development, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), has announced that his party and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have reached a consensus on the draft of the proposed 26th constitutional amendment package. He disclosed this after exhaustive talks between the two parties on the issue, adding he would now try to develop a broader consensus on the constitutional document to ensure its passage by the parliament with unanimity.
The draft on which consensus was reached between the two parties has not been made public for understandable reasons but claims about concurrence on the package augur well if seen in the backdrop of earlier pronouncements of the JUI(F) leader who said he will not agree to the government proposed amendments at any cost. The main feature of the proposed reforms is establishment of a Federal Shariah Court (FCC) to deal with constitutional issues and cases but the JUI(F) believed there was hardly any justification for a separate institution to hear a few cases. Instead, the party has been advocating for creation of a separate bench within the apex court to deal with such cases. It is, therefore, not clear whether PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is an ardent supporter of the idea of a Federal Shariah Court, has conceded space to Maulana or the JUI(F) leader has backed down over the main sticking point. However, if remarks of Bilawal can be taken as an indication, it seems the FCC is part of the consensus document. This is because the PPP Chairperson, in a social media post, has said that the establishment of a Federal Constitutional Court has been a part of the party’s manifesto since the 2007 elections, following the Charter of Democracy signed in 2006. He said that many of today’s critics had previously supported this reform and their current opposition is driven by personal biases or partisan political agendas.
To substantiate his point of view, he also attached relevant sections of the Charter of Democracy, as well as excerpts from the PPP’s 2013 and 2024 manifestos, to his post. Things might become somewhat clear after scheduled meetings of both Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman with PML(N) supremo Mian Nawaz Sharif. The JUI(F) leader has also remarked that consensus should not be confined to PML(N) but the PTI should also be taken on board. However, this seems to be a difficult proposition as the party is deadly opposed to judicial reforms considering them detrimental to its political interests. There is a special committee seized with the issue of proposed Constitutional amendments but according to Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar the PTI has not submitted a single recommendation regarding amendments in the seven meetings of the committee. In a post on his X handle, he claimed that the “naysayers” of the proposed constitutional amendment failed to identify a single section which is in contravention of any basic human right, public interest, and spirit of the Constitution or independence of judiciary. It is also important to note that summaries for convening of sessions of both the National Assembly and the Senate have been moved and if sessions are duly held on Thursday then it can be presumed that the Government has necessary assurance of support for passage of the 26th amendment. Writing or amending a Constitution is a serious issue and one hopes all parties will demonstrate the required wisdom to handle the situation with due care. There should not be person-specific amendments to the sacred document and some other crucial reforms as pointed out by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in its recent report may also be considered while undertaking the exercise to amend the Constitution.
