Finally, cat out of the bag?
— PTI, JI oppose amendments; PPP cautious about commenting on the move
Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid on Tuesday dropped a bombshell in the National Assembly (NA) by admitting that he wanted to make amendments in the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution, perhaps to facilitate the return of disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif to the political arena.
During the past week, the ‘rumour mills’ have been rife with claims of a secret deal between the ruling party and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) – the major opposition party in the NA. The PPP leadership has been vociferously rejecting any underhand deal with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying that no deal would be made with the Sharif family.
“The government plans to amend Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution and the matter would be taken up with the reforms committee,” the minister said. He said that there was no mention of the disqualification period in the article 62 of the Constitution.
The minister said that a request for amendments in the articles (62, 62) would be raised to the main committee of the Parliament on constitutional reforms to fix a time limit for the ‘disqualification of a parliamentarian’.
The government also rejected a suggestion – forwarded by MQM – to set the maximum duration of disqualification to five years. Noting that there was no explicit duration for disqualification set under the current law, the law minister said that the federal government wanted to reduce the disqualification from five years.
Politicians react strongly
This controversial revelation by the law minister attracted strong reactions from mainstream political parties. It was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan who reacted soon after the news of government’s plans to amend the Constitution made headlines.
Imran took to twitter to register his anger over the disclosure. “Disgraceful how PML-N now wants to bring a constitutional amendment to Articles 62 & 63 simply to legitimise Sharif family’s corruption,” Imran wrote.
In an ensuing tweet, Imran said that the PML-N government basically wants to give legal cover to Sharif family’s unbridled corruption. “People will resist the amendments and come out on streets,” the PTI chief warned. Imran had also warned of staging massive street protests during his address to the audience at April 13 public meeting held at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Sirajul Haq, while addressing a rally, vowed to launch a movement for implementation of article 62 and 63 over the politicians, judges, civil and military bureaucrats equally. He said that his party was waging a struggle to protect the article 62 and 63 of the Constitution, which should now be imposed on judges and generals equally.
He said that the JI wanted the next prime ministers to be people of credibility, so that no one may question their integrity. “It would be difficult that the honest politicians in future do not seek dictation from the generals on national issues,” Siraj added.
Opposition Leader in NA Syed Khursheed Shah said that PPP had always cooperated with Nawaz Sharif to preserve the spirit of democracy and supremacy of the Parliament. Talking to media, Shah dodged several queries over the PPP’s support to the government’s move on article 62 and 63. However, he said that the PPP would lend no support to the government to save Nawaz Sharif. He said that the PPP had also saved the parliamentary democracy in the year 2014.
PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that the party has a principled stand on amending the articles 62, 63. In past the PPP has sought cooperation from PML-N for the amendment, which the then PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif had rejected. PPP was open to any bonafide piece of legislation; however, a person specific or party specific amendment would not be supported at any cost.
When Pakistan Today asked for a categorical statement that whether PPP would support the federal government’s bill to amend the articles, Kaira said that the PPP would not support such a legislation. He believes that PPP wants a lifetime disqualification, and a reduced disqualification at this specific time would mean that it was aimed at benefitting Nawaz, PPP would not support this bill as it looks mala fide in nature.”
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