Govt has achieved required numbers for passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment: Khawaja Asif
ISLAMABAD, Oct 19 (SABAH): Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says the government has achieved required numbers for passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
Talking to media persons outside the Parliament House in Islamabad on Saturday, Khawaja Asif said a broader consensus is being developed in the National Assembly and the Senate for the Amendment.
The Minister said the primary objective of the Amendment is to establish the supremacy of Parliament as promised by the Constitution of Pakistan.
Khawaja Asif further said all political parties unanimously agreed that the supremacy of Parliament must not be compromised.
He said that elected representatives have the authority to legislate for the welfare of the public, and the minority should not impose its decisions on the majority.
Addressing the issue of misinformation, the Minister dismissed claims that some parties are blackmailing the government and said that constitutional amendments always require time to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile speaking to a private TV channel, Khawaja Asif also claimed that the government would make progress in any case after achieving the required number of votes in both houses of parliament for the constitutional tweaks. “No matter if it takes a little more time to bring all political parties on the same page.” Khawaja Asif was of the view that consensus would be reached by today’s evening, otherwise, the government will “advance to its next front”.
He said that constitutional amendment is an important matter which is carried out in years. Emphasising the importance of the ongoing consultation process, Khawaja Asif said that there is no ambiguity left after the parliamentary committee comprising opposition and government members “unanimously approved” the draft.
The defence czar also claimed that the PTI lawmakers had also agreed on the contents of the draft like other parties in yesterday’s session of the special committee. He added that a PTI delegation met its party founder to get final go-ahead from him.
Regarding the PTI leaders’ meeting with incarcerated Khan, Khawaja Asif said that it was Maulana Fazl’s request to allow them. The JUI-F supremo would inform the government in a while about PTI founder’s instructions to his party leadership.
The PML-N senior leader, in a separate press conference outside the parliament today, rejected speculations regarding the constitutional amendment and clarified that it meant to empower parliament.
He said: “In the last two to three years, some decisions had raised questions regarding the supremacy of parliament. However, all parties agreed not to make any compromise on parliament’s supremacy.”
He also rubbished claims of some political parties about “abduction of their leaders”, saying that they are concocting a “false narrative” without giving details of kidnapped or jailed persons.
The Imran Khan-founded party and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) had alleged that their leaders were being harassed and threatened directly and indirectly via raids on their houses, abduction of lawmakers and their relatives in a bid to pressurise the opposition lawmakers into supporting the government’s judicial reforms.
To a questioned whether senior puisne Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would become the next chief justice of Pakistan, the defence minister said that the forthcoming amendment would determine who will be appointed as the next top judge.