Pakistan Senate chief shares names for committee tasked with choosing new top judge

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani has sent names of four senators to the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for a 12-member parliamentary committee that will choose the new chief justice, the Senate Secretariat said on Monday night.
The incumbent Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is due to retire this Friday and in the past, the Supreme Court’s second-most senior judge automatically became the chief justice when the top judge retired at the age of 65.
However, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday signed a constitutional amendment into law, empowering the country’s parliament to pick the chief justice from a panel of three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.
The 12-member parliamentary committee will include four members of the Senate, the upper house of parliament, and eight members of the lower house, the National Assembly of Pakistan.
“Chairman Senate Yusuf Raza Gilani has sent names of Senator Farooq H Naik from Pakistan Peoples Party, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar from Muslim League (N), Senator Ali Zafar from PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] and Senator Kamran Murtaza from JUI [Jamiat Ulema Islam] to the National Assembly speaker for the special parliamentary committee formed under 26th constitutional amendment,” the Senate Secretariat.
“These names were suggested by the parliamentary leaders of the respective parties in the Senate after receiving a letter from the Senate chairman.”
Pakistan’s parliament, in an extraordinary session that began on Sunday and continued overnight into Monday, passed the 26th constitutional amendment that allowed parliamentary oversight in the appointment of the country’s top judge among other things.
Pakistani politicians have long complained about judicial overreach into matters of governance, stoking tensions between the judiciary and legislature. Analysts said there had been concerns within the government circles that senior judges below Chief Justice Isa and in the high courts had shown leniency to Khan in a number of cases.
Khan’s PTI opposition party and the legal fraternity opposed the amendment, saying the changes were aimed at curtailing the powers of judiciary.
Barrister Aqeel Malik, the government’s legal adviser, denied this and said the process of appointing judges to high courts as well as selecting the chief justice required greater parliamentary oversight and input.
“This in no way curtails the judiciary’s powers, but it does ensure parliamentary oversight and a greater role in the selection and appointment of judges, all within the constitutional framework,” he told Arab News.
“This will ensure not just the seniority principle, but of course other considerations such as legal wisdom, acumen and overall general administrative experience.”