PPP, JUI-F reach consensus on proposed judicial package

KARACHI: In a major breakthrough, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday night announced that his party and the Pakistan Poeple’s Party (PPP) achieved a consensus on draft of the 26th constitutional amendment. 

The ‘contentious’ constitutional package, among other things, aims to set up a federal constitutional court and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years.

The presser came a day after the JUI-F chief hinted at closing in on a consensus with the ruling PML-N and PPP.

“After much deliberation, I can say this much that our two parties have agreed on a draft [of the constitutional package],” Fazl said while addressing a press conference in Karachi after meeting with the PPP Chairman.

He said they would meet Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif tomorrow and try to achieve his agreement, adding that he also had to meet the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership.

“We will make an effort to create such a consensus on this draft that it is unanimously considered a constitutional amendment,” he said.

The JUI-F chief noted that “serious” talks were held with the PPP as he praised Bilawal Bhutto — who spearheaded the government efforts for the contentious package — for playing a “big role” in achieving the consensus.

For his part, the PPP Chairman — while thanking the cleric and his party for the support — stressed the need to build upon the consensus achieved today between the two parties, noting that his party will also attend the Nawaz-Fazl meeting tomorrow.

He expressed hope that the similar consensus that they achieved today is evolved among JUI-F, PPP and PML-N. “Our aim [to amend Constitution] is not for a specific person or timing. Our focus is only on finding solutions to the nation’s problems,” he added.

The former foreign minister said that they aimed to introduce a constitutional amendment in a ‘non-controversial manner’, hoping that all political parties would reach an agreement for the sake of the nation and not for their political interest. 

He further hoped that the final bill passed by the national Assembly (NA) would be based on the consensus achieved today.

In response to a question, Maulana Fazl said that his party still rejects the first draft of a constitutional package whose details were revealed.

“We expect from PML-N that we need to keep Constitution strong and build confidence in the political system […] We have to raise our voice for the country, Constitution and Parliament,” he said.

The veteran politician thinks that the proposals, which came under discussion, were not concealed from the PML-N. “We had shared the draft of our proposals with them,” he noted.

When asked about the points on which they reached a consensus, Fazl refused to divulge into details but said they have chalked out a joint draft. 

This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.