Opposition slams lack of transparency

ISLAMABAD:

The opposition parties on Sunday expressed concern over what they described as a "non-transparent" and "controversial" process to amend the Constitution and warned that the passage of the 26th Amendment Bill will not change anything.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that two of his party senators might vote for the bill, while Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Akhtar Mengal said that the passage of the bill was tantamount to playing with the Constitution.

At a press conference, Barrister Gohar named the two senators, Zarqa Taimur and Faisal Saleem, who might go against the party line. He warned that if those lawmakers in the upper house of parliament voted for the bill, the party would protest against it.

"I think our two senators are going to vote against the party policy," the PTI chairman told reporters. "We will hold sit-ins in front of the lawmakers' houses who vote," he warned. However, Information Minister Ata Tarar said in a tweet that Dr Zarqa was not present in the Senate session.

Earlier, PTI's political committee announced its boycott of the voting on the bill in the Senate and National Assembly sessions.

The PTI statement said it would not be part of a "non-transparent" and "controversial" process of amending the constitution.

The political committee asserted that the current regime had no moral, democratic, or constitutional justification for altering the Constitution. The statement accused the ruling coalition of imposing the "law of the jungle" through amendments, which the party believed undermined democracy.

In a separate media talk outside the Parliament House, BNP chief Akhtar Mengal said that everyone saw how parliament had played with the Constitution. "Which forces are being appeased by these amendments," he asked.

"Will these amendments make a difference to the economic situation of Pakistan or will the rights of the smaller provinces, which have been violated, have some solution," he asked. He added that political parties and agencies worked day and night for these amendments.

During the Senate voting process, PTI's Dr. Zarqa did not attend the session, according to Information Minister Ata Tarar. However, two BNP senators, Naseema Ahsan and Qasim Ronjho, participated in the proceedings and voted in favor of the 26th Amendment Bill, defying their party's policy.

Senator Ahsan arrived wearing a face mask, while Senator Ronjho was brought in a wheelchair. Although they were asked to sit on the treasury benches, both declined and chose to sit on the opposition benches

Meanwhile, commenting on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman's remarks that the amendments "defanged cobra", Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Amir Hafiz Naeemur Rahman said in an X post that the amendments actually broke the teeth of the Judiciary, "not the black cobra".