By Agha Iqrar Haroon
Reporting from Press Galleries of the Parliament is part and parcel of the life of every reporter who covers parliamentary affairs. After 35 years in journalism, I am losing interest in covering the Parliament for many reasons and one of them is live coverage available on the television screen. However, events such as constitution amendments are pertinent so covering them is a privilege for a journalist instead of merely reporting them.
The morning scenes of October 21, 2024, were engulfed by farcical comedy performed by the leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan. His theatrical performance was his long speech on the package of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. Omar is the son of Gohar Ayub. Gohar was a son of the first dictator of Pakistan Ayub Khan. Omar was telling the House how much democracy was important for him. There is no doubt that Pakistan’s Parliament is a deck of 26 jokers who gathered in the Parliament House to pass the 26th Constitutional Amendment and the majority of jokers was surely led by Omar Ayub Khan and his “farcical comedy’ amused all of us sitting in the Press Gallery who had been working since the morning of October 20 and were too tired. Thank you Omar for providing us with such excellent entertainment. Jokers were not sitting only on opposition benches and the speech of Moulana Fazal-ur-Rehman cited some of them without naming them sitting at “Ayes” benches as well. He rightfully mentioned the political situation that marred the scenes of the last 20 days. Whatever was happening the day before passing the 26th constitutional amendment can be narrated in the couplet of the famous poet Abdul Hameed Adam. He says
Adm samajh may kuch nahi aata
Aah raha hun kay ja raha hun main
(Adm I do not understand whether I am coming or going).
As Adam did not understand anything about the situation referring to the above-mentioned couplet, the majority of parliamentarians were confused by the way this amendment package was introduced to them although it had no confusion, nothing scary, and nothing complex. Munir Niazi, a poet of his genre says
Ye hum hain khud ko saza dene wale
Munir iss zamaane mein rehbar bohat hein
Haqiqat ko uljhan bana dene wale
(It is we who punish ourselves, the leaders of this age, who confuse the truth)
The confusion that was deliberately spread resulted in compromising very pertinent amendments demanded by the realities of the country including a much-needed judicial reform that could ensure speedy justice in the country to fight out reemerging terrorism. Alas, the public has to wait for this even after the 26th constitutional amendment has been passed.
Now we have to live with “something is better than nothing” and the silver lining is that the 26th constitutional amendment has been passed with a two-thirds majority and with full consultation. It has achieved a very decisive and significant milestone. Parliament restored its supremacy by meaningfully amending the balance of judicial powers which had completely tilted towards the judiciary after the 19th Constitutional Amendment and this development is very welcoming for the whole of Pakistan, which will surely lead to far-reaching results regarding the performance of Pakistan’s judiciary and the supremacy of Parliament.
Instead of the old method of picking the most senior judge for the appointment of the Chief Justice, now a twelve-member special parliamentary committee will select one of the names of the three senior-most judges as the Chief Justice. With this key process, the judiciary’s monopoly of making the most senior judge as Chief Justice has ended and like other important institutions, the Chief Justice will be appointed on merit in the Supreme Court.
The procedure of appointment of Supreme Court judges has also been brought under the influence of the Parliament, in which the Supreme Court judges will be appointed by the Commission. The commission headed by the Chief Justice will include four senior judges. The Federal Law Minister and Attorney General will also be members of the commission. A lawyer nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council with at least 15 years of experience will be a member of the commission for two years. Two members of the National Assembly and two members of the Senate will be part of the commission. A woman or a non-Muslim with the qualifications of a technocrat in the Senate will also be made a member of the commission for two years. In this process too, the principle of parliamentary supremacy has been highlighted in line with democratic values.
A Judicial Commission will determine the number of constitutional benches and judges. As far as possible, the Constitution Benches will have equal judges from all the provinces. The Constitution Benches will have the power of suo motu notice under Article 184. Cases related to the interpretation of the Constitution under Article 185 will come under the jurisdiction of the Constitution Benches. The Constitution Bench will consist of at least five judges. The judges of the Constitution Benches will be appointed by a committee of the three most senior judges. This important amendment will significantly increase the efficiency of the judiciary as the Constitution Bench will hear only constitutional matters. The cases related to the Supreme Court will continue to be heard as usual, this will also close the way for the judiciary to intervene in government matters.
Likewise, no court, tribunal, or authority can question the advice sent by the Prime Minister or the Cabinet to the President of the State therefore the powers of the Executives would not be challenged and will able Executives to focus on governance and performance.
A procedure for the performance of judges has also been formulated in which the commission will evaluate the performance of the judges of the High Court and if a judge does not improve his performance, his case can be referred to the Judicial Council.
All Supreme Court and High Court judges must have Pakistani citizenship, in addition to extensive experience as a lawyer, and lower court judges.
The aim of the rest of the amendments is to improve the performance of the judiciary for the people so that judicial affairs can be conducted according to democratic values keeping in mind the principles of the supremacy of the parliament.
I hope the government will review its political team that was responsible for finding a smooth way forward by building trust among all parties for getting their support because this time its team did well for spreading confusion instead of mitigating it. Out of all that happened in the last 20 days, Chairman PPP (Parliamentarian) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emerged as an excellent ‘interlocutor’ who executed the assignment by building the bridges that were damaged by the unskilled laborers.
Long Live the Parliament—Long Live the Democracy
