We completely back Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as CJP, says Imran Khan

• Appointment of next CJP should be announced soon: Khan. 
• Says purpose of constitutional court is to end power of CJP.
• "They [govt] want their own judges to cover election fraud."  

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) jailed founder Imran Khan has said his party is completely backing Supreme Court's Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to become the country's next top judge. 

"The appointment of the next chief justice should be announced soon. [We] completely back Justice Mansoor Ali Shah," the former prime minister said while speaking to journalists informally in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail on Wednesday. 

Khan, who was removed from power via a parliamentary vote in April 2022, said that the purpose of the "constitutional court is to end the power" of the Supreme Court's chief justice, adding that the "government is bent on destroying the judiciary". 

"They want their own judges to cover the [2024] election fraud," the PTI founder insisted, stressing that the government "does not want the PTI to rise at any cost". 

The ousted premier made these comments in light 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 government pushed the proposed constitutional package amid speculation about a potential extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October this year, following the PTI's request last month for the early issuance of a notification regarding the appointment of the next top judge.

However, 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.

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".