Challenges for constitutional reforms committee

CRC will meet on Nov 1 to review the SC's interi­m order on Articl­e 175-A.

ISLAMABAD: The constitutional reforms committee is set to meet on Monday (November 1) to review a Supreme Court interim order that asks parliament to reconsider an amendment it made in Article 175-(A) that deals with the procedure for appointing superior court judges.

Raza Rabbani, the committee’s head, once again faces the daunting challenge of bringing political groupings with divergent views together to rectify the procedure for appointing judges in light of the Supreme Court interim order on the 18th amendment.

Political outfits have expressed fears that a consensus would probably be difficult. The Awami National Party (ANP) has publicly expressed its views on the issue, while the MQM’s leadership is in London meeting with the party’s high command and the SC’s order on the 18th amendment and its implications are on the agenda.

The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has been silent on the issue so far and has not made any public statements on its stance regarding the committee. However, party insiders say that it also has some reservations as its leaders believe that “parliament is supreme and it cannot be dictated”.

On October 22, the Supreme Court sent Article175-(A) of the Constitution, the one that deals with the appointment of superior court judges, back to parliament with certain recommendations to amend it again.

When the case was being heard by the court the government representatives defended the 18th amendment and argued that parliament has the supreme right to amend the constitution and that no institution could undo it. It is likely that some parties represented in the committee will continue with this stance.

“I believe that it is the sole prerogative of the parliament to amend the constitution. Parliament is supreme and it is not answerable to any other institution,” said Haji Adeel who represents the ANP in the constitutional reforms committee. He quickly explained that this was his personal view and that he would present the party’s view in the committee.

He said that the 18th amendment was passed by parliament through a consensus – the achieving of which is not an easy task. There are also different views within the political parties on the SC order, some say that it is binding and that parliament would have to endorse it without any further change.

Some others including legal wizards representing the PML-Q in the committee believe that parliament can go beyond the interim order. It is also likely that some parties will also press to take up the issues that were not addressed in the 18th amendment to bring another comprehensive 19th amendment.

Under this scenario Senator Raza Rabbani has the formidable and challenging task of bringing all the people representing different political parties on the same page when he will once again chair the meeting of his committee that framed the 18th amendment package which parliament had adopted in April this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.