Constitutional package: Govt, opposition make last-ditch effort to woo Maulana Fazl

• PM Shehbaz seeks Fazl's support for constitutional amendment.
• Bilawal Bhutto, Mohsin Naqvi, others also call on the JUI-F chief.
• PTI chief Barrister Gohar, Asad Qaiser visit politico's residence.
  

In light of the prospects of the constitutional package to be introduced by the incumbent government, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman took centre stage with the ruling coalition and Opposition trying to woo the politico to secure his support in the parliament.

Fazl has held multiple important meetings with both the ruling coalition as well as the Opposition as the former tries to achieve the magic number required to pass a constitutional amendment with the latter attempting to counter it.

The prospects of the said constitutional package come amid speculations revolving around an extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa — who is set to retire in October this year — after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sought an early issuance of notification regarding the next top judge last month.

The government has been tight-lipped on the proposed amendments to the Constitution but clarified that the package will not be person-specific and would give the authorities ingress in the judicial procedure.

Sources, as reported by The News on Sunday, say that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the JUI-F chief to seek his support for the constitutional amendment wherein the latter sought a draft of the amendment to consult with his party leaders before making a decision.

Separately, Fazl also held meetings with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who was accompanied by Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and Aijaz Jakhrani, whereas the JUI-F delegation included Aslam Ghori, Kamran Murtaza and Mohammad Usman Badini.

Later on, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also met with the Maulana — the meeting was attended by Bilawal and Maulana Asad Mahmood.

Earlier, a delegation led by Deputy PM Ishaq Dar also held a session at Maulana's residence with the meeting also attended by Naqvi, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, the publication reported.

Speaking on Fazl's high-stakes interactions, JUI-F's Murtaza said that there have been some suggestions from the government which will be discussed with the party leaders.

"All parties including the PTI should be taken into confidence on constitutional amendment," he said, adding that the party would consider suggestions that it deems to be good.

Furthermore, Fazl also met a PTI delegation comprising Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Senator Shibli Faraz and former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser.

The PTI delegation, however, left without talking to the media persons after the conclusion of the meeting with the JUI-F chief.

What's at stake?

Apart from the likelihood of the retirement age of SC and high court judges being increased to 68 and 65, respectively by making changes to Article 179 of the Constitution, PM Shehbaz's administration also mulling revising the seniority principle — as confirmed by the government's spokesperson on legal affairs Barrister Aqeel Malik. 

At present, according to Article 175A of the Constitution, only the senior most judge of the SC is appointed as the CJP on the basis of the principle of seniority.

Sources say that the government has also decided to form a constitutional court and amend Article 63-A of the Constitution — which deals with the defection of the lawmakers. 

A day earlier, the prime minister took parliamentarians of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other allied parties on board over the potential constitutional amendment.

The number crunch

The key aspect of the constitutional amendment is that unlike any other legislation, the government will need to secure a two-thirds majority in the parliament to successfully execute it.

In the NA, the ruling coalition needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendment, whereas in the Senate the number stands at 64.

Currently, treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition's 101 MNAs meaning that the government needs 13 more votes to pass the said constitutional amendment.

The ruling coalition comprises the PML-N (110); the PPP's (68); Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (22); Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (four); Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (four); Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (one); Awami National Party (one) and Balochistan Awami Party (one).

Meanwhile, the opposition comprises 80 MNAs of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which are supported by PTI-backed independent lawmakers.

The JUI-F has eight members in the NA, whereas Balochistan National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Majlis-e-Wahdat-Muslimeen (MWM) have one MNA each in the NA.

The ruling benches of the Senate, as per the publication, comprise PPP (24), PML-N (19), BAP(4) and MQM-P(3) in addition to four independent senators.

The total strength of ruling benches stands at 54 as the government is short of nine votes in the Senate to pass the constitutional amendment.

As for the opposition benches in the Senate, PTI holds 17 seats, JUI-F (5) and ANP (3), while SIC, MWM, BNP, National Party and PML-Q have one seat each.

In addition to this, there is an independent senator as well on the opposition benches with the total number of opposition senators standing at 31.