Blames Imran’s remarks for sabotaging talks with PTI
After the government postponed tabling the “controversial” constitutional package in Parliament, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced on Tuesday that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would be the next Chief Justice of Pakistan.
“On October 26, Justice Mansoor will become the next chief justice — no doubt,” the former foreign minister said while speaking to a private news channel.
Incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire in October this year. As his retirement draws near, the government has ramped up its efforts to introduce constitutional amendments — which allegedly include legislation to extend the tenure of CJP Isa as well as the retirement age of the judges.
Speaking to the private news channel, Bilawal regretted that neither the parliament was functioning properly, nor the judiciary. “We waited almost 50 years for justice in Shaheed [Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto’s murder case.”
He pointed out that the Supreme Court’s workload consists of 15% of the political cases, which he said consumed 90% of its time, stressing the need for judicial reforms in the country.
“Under the Charter of Democracy, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission still remains unformed,” he said, adding that they had promised to bring reforms in the National Accountability Bureau and judiciary.
Bilawal also said that his party wanted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to play a positive role as the Opposition, regretting that Imran Khan’s recent statement on X (formerly Twitter) sabotaged the engagement.
“It is difficult for [the government] to discuss constitutional amendments with PTI along with its input,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PPP Chairman admitted that the government lacks ‘numbers’ in the parliament. “PPP will prepare its draft regarding the formation of the constitutional court and will share it with Maulana Fazl,” he said.
