Constitutional amendment trimmed with Maulana Fazl's consent: Irfan Siddiqui

• In 10 days, dust regarding amendment will settle: PML-N senator.
• Govt has no objection to bringing PTI on board, says Siddiqui.
• Senator says Nawaz Sharif has deferred his foreign visit.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui said the constitutional amendment proposed by the government has been trimmed with the consent of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Speaking on Geo News programme 'Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath' on Wednesday, the PML-N leader said though the agenda of his meeting with the JUI-F chief was not the constitutional amendment, but it did come under discussion.

“Maulana Fazlur Rahman informed me about his reservations regarding the amendment. He has no objection on formation of the constitutional court as well as the amendment’s basic points,” he said this after meeting Fazl in Islamabad.

When asked, Siddiqui said at this stage he could not tell the final time frame as to when the amendment would be brought in the parliament. However, he said, in a week or 10 days the dust in this regard would settle.

If the JUI-F chief wanted to bring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on board for the amendment, he said, the government had no objection to it.

To a query about PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s visit abroad, the senator said the former prime minister’s foreign visit was already scheduled for medical checkup, but it had been deferred viewing the prevailing situation.

“Even if Nawaz Sharif goes abroad, it would be for 8-10 days,” he said.

Earlier, talking to media, Siddiqui said Fazl did not want anything in the proposed judiciary centric constitutional package that was against the constitution.

“He only has reservations on a few minor matters which are being looked into by our team,” he said.

Putting the rumours about the government’s seeking extension for Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa to rest, he said the proposed constitutional amendments were not person-specific.

"Any constitutional amendment has nothing to do with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa or Justice Mansoor Ali Shah," he added.

The government pushed the constitutional package amid speculation about a potential extension in the tenure of CJP Isa, who is set to retire this month, following the PTI’s request in August for the early issuance of a notification regarding the appointment of the next top judge.

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

However, deferment came after JUI-F refused to lend its support to the ruling coalition, short of 13 votes in the National Assembly and nine in the Senate as the said legislation requires a two-thirds majority in both the houses.

The PML-N leader said that the constitutional amendment would be passed if the ruling coalition secured two-thirds majority in the parliament. "There is no pressure regarding the amendment as this is an 18-year-old agenda," he added.

Following the "non-political" meeting with Fazl, Senator Siddiqui admitted that the government could not pass the constitutional amendment without the JUI-F chief's approval.

On the other hand, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on October 1 said that so far, his party had agreed to the government’s proposal for the formation of a federal constitutional court.

Bilawal also elucidated that his struggle for the constitutional amendment was not for the current chief justice, Isa. "Your agenda could be a person-specific, not mine," he added.