AnyTV News Pakistani Parliament passes controversial Constitution Amendment Bill -

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Shahbaz Sharif

Islamabad: Pakistan’s ‘National Assembly’ on Monday passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment Bill after an overnight debate on Sunday. There is a provision in the bill to limit the tenure of the Chief Justice to three years. This information has been received from the news in Pakistan’s media. According to ‘Dawn News’ news, during voting in the 336-member National Assembly, 225 members supported the bill. The government needed 224 votes to pass the amendment. A two-thirds majority is required to approve the amendment.

President’s approval is necessary

According to the news of ‘Geo News’, after the bill is passed in both the houses of the Parliament, it will now be sent for the President’s approval under Article 75. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar after a consensus among the ruling coalition partners. Five senators from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal and two MPs from Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) also voted in favor of the bill. In the bill, there is a proposal to constitute a 12-member commission for the appointment of the Chief Justice, whose appointment will be for three years.

PM Sharif met President Zardari

According to ‘Express News’ news, before the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met President Asif Ali Zardari for detailed discussion on the proposed constitutional amendment, briefed him and consulted him. Addressing a press conference before the start of the Senate session, Law Minister Tarar said the ‘fresh faced’ commission will include the Chief Justice, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, two senators and two Members of the National Assembly (MNA). One senator and two members each of the National Assembly will be from the opposition party.

What was PTI’s stance?

Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Zafar alleged that his party’s MPs were forced to vote in favor of the bill. He said his party’s senators were absent because they feared they would be forced to vote in favor of the government. (Language)