ISLAMABAD: Already isolated by its allies on the issue of the reformed General Tax (GST), the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Tuesday ignited yet another controversy by nominating four treasury members for the parliamentary committee to appoint judges of the superior judiciary without consulting the Awami National Party (ANP), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
A statement issued by the President’s House said the names of four parliamentarians belonging to the treasury benches had been finalised for making senior judicial appointments under Article 175(A) of the constitution, giving all the four provinces representation in the committee.
“The names were finalised in the light of the recommendations made by the prime minister in a meeting with the president. The four members of parliament belonging to treasury comprise two senators and two MNAs,” president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
The two senators nominated as members of the parliamentary committee are PPP’s Nayyar Hussain Bokhari from Punjab and Sabir Baloch from Balochistan.
The two National Assembly members nominated to the parliamentary committee are PPP’s Aftab Shaban Mirani from Sindh and Asma Arbab Alamgir from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The names have been chosen to represent all provinces and also to give representation to women. These names will now be communicated to the secretariats of the National Assembly and the Senate,” Babar said.
Rejecting the nominations, ANP Information Secretary Zahid Khan told Pakistan Today that his party had not been consulted.
“We will raise this issue in parliament and strongly oppose these nominations. After the reformed GST, this is another issue the government decided without taking any of its allies into confidence,” he said. Khan warned the PPP against such decisions.
“I don’t know who is advising the PPP to take such decisions which brings it embarrassment in and outside parliament,” he said, adding that the ANP would reject all such decisions.
MQM senator and Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Babar Ghauri told Pakistan Today that it was not a parliamentary decision, rather “it was a decision of a party”. He said PPP’s decision negated the spirit of Article 175A. “All parties should have been given representation in this committee to make it a parliamentary body,” he said.
“The JUI-F and the ANP are also not happy with this decision.” JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman said his party rejected these nominations. “We have strong reservations… it’s time for the PPP to decide if it wants to take the coalition partners along or not,” Fazl said.
The JUI-F chief said the PPP was not following the democratic tradition and it appeared as if there was a strong lobby in the PPP which wanted to dominate every institution.
