Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif claims the government now has the support required numbers in both the Senate and the National Assembly to pass an amendment. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Pakistan cabinet will meet on Sunday (October 20, 2024) to review and approve the final draft of the ‘much-touted’ 26th Constitutional Amendment.

The government has not officially shared the details of the constitutional amendment with the media or discussed them publically, but according to reports, its alleged objective is to dilute the power of an independent judiciary.

Reports indicate that the government plans to raise the retirement age for judges and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Former Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah told Samaa News Channel that the cabinet would approve the constitutional package, which would then be presented to Parliament for approval.

The cabinet will convene at 2:30 p.m., followed by a Senate session at 3:00 p.m. and a National Assembly meeting at 6:00 p.m., the channel reported.

The two houses of the Parliament should separately pass the bill with a two-thirds majority for it to become law. Earlier, the government lacked the required numbers in both the Senate and the National Assembly. However, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has claimed it now has the support to reach the required numbers.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), in a late-night talk with the media along with Peoples Party Pakistan (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, said his party would support the 26th constitutional amendment after receiving a response from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and sought a day for further deliberation.

The JUI-F reached a consensus on the constitutional package after the government agreed to remove all parts not acceptable to the party, Mr. Rehman said.

Mr. Bilawal, who is spearheading the official effort to garner the required numerical strength, said on the occasion that he wanted the legislation to take place with the consensus of all the political parties.

A common element in the drafts is that the government has abandoned the proposal to create a separate constitutional court. Instead, it has agreed to establish a special constitutional bench within the Supreme Court to address any constitutional or political issues.

Reportedly, the government did succeed in getting support to prevent the senior-most judge of the top court from automatically becoming the Chief Justice. It also introduced a special parliamentary panel to appoint the Chief Justice out of the three top judges of the court. If passed, the government could block Justice Masoor Ali Shah from succeeding the current Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa, upon his retirement. Isa is set to retire on October 25 after reaching superannuation, which is 65 years.

The original idea of extending the retirement age of judges from 65 to 68 is also not part of the amendment.

To succeed, it should be passed before the October 25 deadline to complete the formalities for setting up the special panel.

To pass the amendment, the governed needs 224 votes in the National Assembly of 336 lawmakers and 64 in the Senate. The current coalition strength in the NA is 213 and 52 in the Senate. The JUI-F with eight NA members and five senators is in a position to play a major role. Rehman can also bring the votes of opposition parties like the jailed former premier Imran Khan’s PTI.

The government was forced to delay tabling the amendment bill in Parliament last month after its efforts to get Mr. Rehman’s support failed earlier.

Meanwhile, after a late-night meeting, the PTI has decided to boycott Parliament when the amendment will be presented, the report said.

PTI leader Gohar Khan told the media that party founder Khan wanted more time and authorised his party to continue to engage with Mr. Rehman.

Reportedly, the PTI side sought to delay the process until October 25, when Chief Justice Isa retires, as it supports Justice Shah for the position.

There are also allegations by the PTI and some other parties that their lawmakers were being forced to support the move. The party claimed it was unable to contact at least two PTI senators.

Allegations about opposition lawmakers being abducted to vote for the bill have been rejected by Defence Minister Asif.

In this photo released by the Pakistan’s President Office, President Asif Ali Zardari, center left, administers the oath from federal Ministers as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, center right, watches during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 11, 2024. The 19-member Cabinet of Pakistan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Sharif was sworn in Monday during a brief ceremony.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday inducted 19 members into his Cabinet, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation in the cash-strapped country.

Newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to 19 members of the Cabinet at a ceremony held in the President’s House and was attended by Prime Minister Sharif among others.

Those who took oath included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Azam Tarar, Rana Tanvir, Mohsin Naqvi, Ahad Cheema, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Riaz Prizada, Qaiser Sheikh, Shaza Fatima, Aleem Khan, Jam Kamal, Amir Muqam, Awais Leghari, Atta Tarar, Salik Hussian and Musaddiq Malik.

The portfolio of the new Ministers will be announced later.

Mr. Aurangzeb will likely be the Finance Minister, Mr. Dar as the Foreign Minister, and Mr. Khawaja Asif the Defence Minister. Azam Tarar will be the Law Minister, Atta Tarar as Information Minister, Musaddik Malik as Petroleum Minister, Mohsin Naqvi as Interior Minister and Ahad Cheema as Minister for Kashmir Affairs.

Three technocrats — Muhammad Aurangzeb, Mohsin Naqvi and Ahad Cheema have been included in the cabinet as advisors. The Cabinet has only one woman, Shaza Fatima.

Jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leaders have criticised the formation of the Cabinet, saying it comprises those leaders who have lost the people’s mandate, referring to independents backed by the PTI failing to form a government though they won the maximum number of seats in the February 8 elections.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar has termed the newly sworn-in federal Cabinet as a “weak cabinet composed of outdated boomers”.

In a post on X, Mr. Azhar said the federal cabinet members did not have a “clue about policy reform or vision” and were mostly those “rejected by the people”.

Raoof Hasan, another senior PTI leader, posted “Like President, like Prime Minister, like Cabinet – an unconstitutional & illegal conglomerate of people who have entered the power corridors by stealing people’s mandate.

“They neither have legitimacy nor trust of the electorate to rule & take tough decisions to bring the country out of the deepening quagmire it is stuck in,” he posted on X.

Prime Minister Shehbaz has initially decided to keep his Cabinet small, but more Ministers will be inducted in the second phase, Geo News quoted sources as saying.

The swearing-in of the federal Cabinet happened a week after Mr. Shehbaz took the oath of office as the 24th premier of the country, while President Zardari was sworn in as the head of state a day ago.

The oath-taking came hours after Prime Minister Sharif recommended the 19 names, a day after he held a marathon meeting with the leaders of his inner circle on the matter.

The Cabinet include familiar faces who were also part of the previous government.

They include ex-Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, ex-Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, former Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and ex-State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik.

This time Mr. Dar lost the race for the Ministry of Finance and the coveted post fell to Muhammad Aurangzeb, a well-known banker.

A dark horse to rise to the Cabinet is former caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is also currently the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman.

He is considered close to Mr. Zardari and the link may have worked in his favour.

The process of government formation has been completed after the Cabinet was sworn in.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s main ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), has refused to become part of the federal Cabinet.

Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, delivers speech after elected as Pakistan’s Prime Minister for second term, in the National Assembly building in Islamabad, on March 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters/Pakistan National Assembly

Shehbaz Sharif on March 4 took the oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan, taking over the country’s reins for a second time since 2022, amidst staggering economic and security challenges.

President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72-year-old Mr. Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-i-Sadr, the presidential palace.

The ceremony was attended by the three services chiefs, senior officials, diplomats, leading business people, members of the civil society and media organisations. The caretaker premier Anwaarul Haq Kakar was also present.

The brief ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by the oath-taking.

The ceremony was attended by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and other PML-N workers and Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah was also present on the occasion.

Mr. Shehbaz earlier served as Prime Minister of a coalition government from April 2022 to August 2023 before Parliament was dissolved to hold general elections last month.

Mr. Alvi had in 2022 tacitly refused to give oath to Shehbaz by saying that he was not feeling well when he was elected as premier for the first time after ousting Imran Khan through a vote of no confidence. Then Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administered the oath to him.

It was speculated that Alvi may once again skip the official duty but he agreed.

The oath-taking ceremony comes days after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a coalition government.

On Sunday, Mr. Shehbaz comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament amidst sloganeering by the Opposition.

Mr. Shehbaz, the consensus candidate of the PML-N and the PPP, received 201 votes in the 336-member Parliament. His challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) secured 92 votes.

In the February 8 polls, marred by allegations of vote rigging, the Sharifs-led party failed to garner a clear majority, albeit technically, it is the largest party with 75 out of the 265 contested seats.

Mr. Shehbaz, known to be an astute politician and a good administrator, was tasked by his elder brother and former three-time prime minister to negotiate with other like-minded parties on the formation of a coalition government.

Besides the PPP, Mr. Shehbaz was backed by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League (Q), Balochistan Awami Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Z), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and the National Party.

The new leader should make difficult decisions to undertake to reform the economy of the cash-strapped country and administration.

In his first speech after being voted in, Mr. Shehbaz spoke about the struggling economy and said it would require reforms to rid the country of financial difficulties.

He should also mend ties with its neighbours for peace and stability.

He also faces challenges from Mr. Khan’s party which has promised to keep protesting the alleged manipulation of the February 8 election results.

The security situation of the country has also deteriorated in recent months, with an increase in terror attacks by Pakistan Taliban and other terror groups.

Meanwhile, caretaker PM Kakar, according to reports, has vacated the Prime Minister House, but he will continue to perform his duties as premier till the issuance of notification of the new chief executive of the country. He has been allotted a house in the Minister’s Enclave.

During Mr. Shehbaz’s two successive tenures as chief minister of Punjab (2008-2013 and 2013-2018), a network of underpasses, overhead bridges and mass transit systems was introduced in the most populous Punjab province and was completed in record time.

Born in September 1951 in a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri family in Lahore, Shehbaz did his graduation from the Government College University, Lahore.

His family emigrated from Anantnag in Kashmir for business and settled in the village of Jati Umra in Amritsar district, Punjab at the beginning of the 20th century before moving to Pakistan.