Constitutional amendments 'insult to Constitution, democracy': Barrister Saif

• Saif questions current parliament's authority to amend Constitution.
• Talks with government amounts to conceding Feb 8 polls, he says.
  
• He terms incumbent Parliament as incomplete, unconstitutional.

Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif on Wednesday lashed out at the prospective constitutional amendments, terming them as an "insult to the Constitution and democracy".

"How can the current parliament introduce constitutional amendments? It is incomplete and unconstitutional and therefore lacked the authority to legislate" the CM's adviser questioned in a statement.

Barrister Saif's remarks come against the backdrop of the ongoing saga surrounding the constitutional package chalked out by the ruling coalition which allegedly provisions regarding extension in the retirement ages of the high court and supreme court judges.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), despite having the support of its allies such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and others, had postponed introducing the constitutional amendments in the parliament despite claiming to have secured the "magic number" earlier.

The deferment came after Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) refused to lend its support to the ruling coalition, short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate as the said legislation, aimed at amending the Constitution, requires a two-thirds majority in both houses.

Speaking on the prospects of talks with the government on the said matter, the KP government spokesperson said that doing so would amount to conceding to the February 8 polls — which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has termed rigged on multiple occasions.

"Negotiations are an attempt to legitimise an unelected and illegitimate government [....] since February 8 the opposition has maintained that the [incumbent] government is an unelected one," he said.

In the National Assembly, the ruling coalition needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendments, whereas in the Senate the number stands at 64. Currently, as per reports, treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition's 101 MNAs.

Although JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has so far remained seemingly unwilling to back the amendments, which he, in fact, has termed a bid to protect the coalition government, 

Adviser on Political and Public Affairs and PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah had hinted at evolving "minimum consensus" among political parties on controversial judiciary-centric constitutional amendments that also included the proposal to establish constitutional court — which PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has said would be introduced "come what may".

The PM's aide also said that the consultation process with other political parties on the judicial package has not stalled as the Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led PPP and Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led JUI-F were working on their draft amendments.

He added that the drafts could be discussed in the forthcoming consultative sessions after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's return from the United States and opined that the government would table the constitutional package after developing a "minimum consensus".