ISLAMABAD: Differences within the ruling coalition on nomination of members for the parliamentary committee for judges’ appointment may hinder the nod for the appointment of the new chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Although the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on Saturday finalised the name of Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry to replace the outgoing LHC CJ, his nomination needs a nod by the parliamentary committee. But the indifference of the prime minister to nominate two members from treasury to the coveted body has resulted in a delay in the completion of the committee.
The opposition has already made its nominations for the parliamentary committee from the Senate and the National Assembly. The names of PML-Q chief Shujaat Hussain and Senator Ishaq Dar have been fianlised for the committee from the Senate, while Mehtab Khan Abbasi and Ghous Bakhsh Mehr have been short-listed from the National Assembly.
However, nominations made by Leader of the House in the Senate Nayyar Hussain Bokhari incited reservations from the PPP’s coalition partners, as he named himself and Senator Kazim Khan for the committee.
Following the nominations, MQM leader Babar Khan Ghouri and JUI-F Senator Ali Sher Haideri expressed their reservations over the nominations, saying the coalition partners were not consulted on the nominations. The coalition partners are now pressurising Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to accommodate their members in the committee, and that is the reason that the premier has yet not named anyone from the government’s side.
A source said all three coalition partners – MQM, ANP and JUI-F – were now putting pressure on the prime minister to accommodate their leaders in the committee, as they were ignored in the nominations made in the Senate. When contacted, press secretary to the prime minister, Shabir Anwer, said the prime minister was yet to make nominations for the committee.
“As per my knowledge, no such nomination has been made. We will inform the media whenever a decision is taken,” he added.
