Key Pakistan coalition partner doubles down on judicial reform, constitutional court despite opposition

ISLAMABAD: Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of a key party in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition, has stressed the need for judicial reforms and the establishment of a constitutional court to ensure swift and impartial justice in the country, his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said on Monday, despite criticism from lawyers and opposition parties.
The statement came weeks after Pakistan’s government sought to get a package of 52 history-making constitutional amendments passed in parliament, but did not present it after failing to secure the required two-thirds majority needed for them to pass. The proposed amendments are expected to establish a federal constitutional court, raise the retirement age of superior judges by three years and modify the process for the appointment of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The matter has raised widespread concerns among lawyers, opposition parties and independent experts who say the moves are aimed at increasing the government’s power in making key judicial appointments and dealing with the defection of lawmakers during house votes. But Bhutto-Zardari said the country’s judicial system had failed to deliver justice to the victims of terrorism, with judges unable to secure convictions in 50 percent of the cases, highlighting the dire need for judicial reforms.
Speaking to lawyers affiliated with his party in Quetta, the PPP chairman recalled that his late mother, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had promised in 2006 to introduce judicial reforms and establish constitutional courts to ensure swift justice for the people, but the reforms remained pending despite other achievements.
“The current political environment presents an opportunity to realize this component,” he said, presenting his party’s proposed draft for constitutional reforms, which included the establishment of constitutional courts at the provincial level.
“While the PPP does not have the majority in the National Assembly to pass constitutional amendments on its own, the party will work toward a consensus-based draft that aligns with its manifesto.”
The statement came a day after hundreds of Pakistani lawyers urged judges to distance themselves from the proposed federal constitutional court in the country.
“An assault on our Constitutional compact is being cloaked in the thin garb of arguments grounded in the supremacy of law. These are arguments that do not withstand the slightest intellectual scrutiny, given any serious consideration,” a group of over 300 senior lawyers said in an open letter addressed to the judges of high courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
“We urge you — the judges of our constitutional courts — not to recognize this proposed court if such a bill is passed. We urge those of you who may be hand-picked to serve on it not to do so. Complicity will be no defense of the Constitution: it will be its defacement.”
Last week, Aqeel Malik, a government spokesman on legal affairs, said Pakistan’s ruling coalition would table the constitutional amendments package in parliament in the first week of October.
The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has alleged that the amendments are an attempt to grant an extension to incumbent Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, who is widely viewed to be aligned with the ruling coalition and in opposition to its chief rival, the PTI.
Bhutto-Zardari, however, called for the reform of the judicial appointment process, stating that the 18th Amendment of the Constitution of Pakistan introduced a procedure whereby the judiciary would make recommendations, but the final decision would be made by a parliamentary committee with equal representation from the government and the opposition.
He expressed hope that there would be consensus on these reforms and announced plans to engage with bar associations across the country.