\u201cProposed amendment draft not acceptable in whatever way,\u201d says JUI-F chief
\n ISLAMABAD
\nJamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who took the centre stage as both the government and the opposition sought his support, has completely rejected the draft of the \u201ccontroversial\u201d constitutional package, aimed at making changes to Pakistan\u2019s judicial and parliamentary systems.
\n\u201cThe draft we were given was reviewed, and it was in no way acceptable,\u201d the veteran politician said while talking to journalists after attending a luncheon at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser\u2019s residence on Wednesday.
\nThe government pushed the proposed constitutional package amid speculation about a potential extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October this year, following the PTI\u2019s request last month for the early issuance of a notification regarding the appointment of the next top judge.
\nThe ruling coalition left no stone unturned to woo the \u2018fate-decider\u2019 Fazl, with leaderships of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People\u2019s Party (PPP) holding a flurry of meetings with the cleric, but to no avail.
\nDespite claims of securing the \u201cmagic number\u201d needed to push the bill through, the government failed to table the amendments in parliament and postponed its move indefinitely \u2014 a development confirmed by PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui.
\nThe amendments allegedly include legislation to extend the tenure of CJP Isa as well as an increase in retirement age of the judges. To pass the constitutional amendments, the government is short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate.
\nThe PTI and JUI-F, which have been arch-rivals traditionally, found common ground after the February 8 general elections and expressed mutual concerns over the alleged interference and manipulation during the polls.
\nFormer NA speaker Asad Qaiser hosted a luncheon in honour of the JUI-F head in Islamabad today, which was also attended by other PTI lawmakers including Omar Ayub, Barrister Gohar and former president Arif Alvi.
\nSpeaking to journalists following the meeting, Fazl said they have completely rejected the constitutional amendments\u2019 proposed draft provided by the government. \u201cIt [the draft] was shared with specific individuals, not with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cProposed amendment draft not acceptable in whatever way,\u201d says JUI-F chief ISLAMABAD Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who took the centre stage as both the government and the opposition sought his support, has completely rejected the draft of the \u201ccontroversial\u201d constitutional package, aimed at making changes to Pakistan\u2019s judicial and parliamentary systems. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-431929","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n