Opposition blasts 'authoritarian assault' on judiciary

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE:

As the contentious amendment bill sailed through the Senate amid vehement outcry, the opposition on Monday rejected the 27th Amendment in its entirety, denouncing it as part of a "fascist design" to subvert judicial independence and distort the public mandate.

The Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan, long wary of the constitutional overhauls, sounded the alarm and outright rejected the 27th Constitutional Amendment, denouncing it as "unconstitutional, undemocratic and devoid of efficacy".

The decision was announced following an important meeting of the alliance, chaired by Mahmood Khan Achakzai in Islamabad, attended by Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, Senator Hamid Khan, Noorul Haq Qadri and Humayun Mohmand.

The meeting was convened ahead of the government's proposed bill was set to be presented for voting in the upper house.

According to the statement issued after the meeting, the 27th Amendment "stands against the spirit of the Constitution of Pakistan". It stated that members of the alliance would not take part in any voting or balloting process on the amendment, declaring that "participating in such unconstitutional action would be a deviation from the principle of constitutional supremacy".

The statement further said the amendment violated "the basic structure of the Constitution, the parliamentary balance, and federal principles".

"Parliament is not authorised to undertake a unilateral constitutional amendment," the statement added, stressing that the proposed amendment lacked broad national consensus.

The alliance resolved to continue its protest "through constitutional, legal and democratic means".

'Justice not possible without free judiciary'

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Sardar Latif Khosa said that justice was impossible without an independent judiciary, accusing the government of repeating the "midnight assault" seen during the 26th Amendment.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Khosa said, "Fascism has completely ruined the system. Even in the 26th Amendment, a similar midnight coup was carried out".

Recalling judicial integrity in the early years of Pakistan, Khosa said, "Chief Justice Abdul Rashid once declined a meeting request from late prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan to ensure that no influence affected the outcome of cases". "A nation that receives justice can never be defeated."

Khosa alleged that the February 8, 2024 election mandate had been stolen. "The people gave their mandate to PTI, but the party was stripped of its electoral symbol, the bat. Despite that, people voted overwhelmingly for our candidates. According to our Form-45 data, we won 180 seats while the PML-N secured just 17. Even Shehbaz Sharif lost to Dr Yasmin Rashid."

He maintained that if the PML-N had accepted its defeat, it would have had a positive effect on politics. "Had we received our share of reserved seats, our tally would have reached 230. Even today, the prime minister owes his position to the votes of the people who supported PTI."

Khosa accused the government of "rewriting the law" to appoint "favourite judges," ensuring rulings against PTI.

"Everyone saw how the sanctity of the home was violated, businesses shut down, and people left asking: 'Why was our vote stolen?' The law says no structure built on fraud can stand," he said, adding that "the government deceived JUI-F even during the 26th Amendment".

He criticised the formation of the Constitutional Bench, saying it had failed to deliver any landmark judgments. "Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is a jurist of global standing, yet the 17-judge Constitutional Bench's ruling was reversed. Justice Qazi Faez Isa headed that bench, and we witnessed how reserved seats were distributed to those who had no right to them."

Khosa lamented that "senior judges are being bypassed" while "parachute judges" were being appointed to secure desired outcomes. "After capturing various courts, the government has now begun taking control of the Islamabad High Court," he alleged.

He said that since the formation of the Constitutional Bench, "not a single decision has favoured public interest," and many of its rulings have "reversed Supreme Court verdicts"

Khosa further lamented that "the Election Commission of Pakistan erased our party altogether, clearing the ground for the government." This allowed those in power to "pick and choose any leader to bring into their fold," he added.

'Theft, not reform'

Similarly, addressing a joint press conference in Lahore, PTI provincial legislator Sheikh Imtiaz and PTI Central Punjab Information Secretary Faiza Murad described the amendment as "a theft rather than a reform," claiming it has nothing to do with the will of the people and everything to do with political control.

They alleged that the government was pursuing a long-standing authoritarian ambition, referring to it as a dream once envisioned by military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq and later attempted by General Musharraf but never realised.

According to the PTI leaders, the amendment's core objective is not judicial reform but the subjugation of the judiciary to the executive. "The real intent is to place the courts under the thumb of the government," they noted.

Both leaders expressed alarm over the proposed changes to the process of judicial appointments and the curtailing of the Supreme Court's suo motu powers.

They argued that judges appointed directly by the prime minister would lack independence, making it nearly impossible for them to rule against the government's interests. "Under these changes, the judiciary's power to take suo motu notice will be reduced to family and rent disputes, while judges who resist political interference could be sidelined or forced into early retirement," they warned.

They also drew attention to provisions they claim could introduce lifetime immunity for the President, comparing it to past discussions of lifetime military ranks. "This amendment is not about governance or justice—it's about protecting an individual," they said, criticising the move as an assault on democratic norms and the separation of powers.

The PTI leaders further accused the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) of hypocrisy, saying that despite its repeated claims of defending the Constitution, it is now backing what they called an unconstitutional amendment without debate or transparency.

"Even the PPP's Central Executive Committee has not been presented with the draft, and many parliamentarians have no idea what they're voting for," they added.

Lashing out at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), they alleged that the party has a history of pushing legislation without proper drafts or consultation, mirroring the behaviour of past authoritarian regimes.

"A government that came to power with just 17 seats has no moral or constitutional mandate to alter the foundation of the Constitution," the PTI representatives said.

Reaffirming the party's position, Sheikh Imtiaz and Faiza Murad declared that the PTI rejects the proposed amendment in its entirety, insisting that a "fake and unconstitutional government" cannot make legitimate changes to the country's supreme law.

They warned that the passage of such an amendment would mark a dangerous precedent, eroding the independence of the judiciary and the democratic structure of Pakistan.