Nineteenth amendment

The amendment is expected to result in balance of institutional power, we urge members of parliament to approve it.

For the second time in the year, the constitution of the republic is going to be amended, this time in order to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the previous amendment. The Nineteenth Amendment was passed in the National Assembly on December 22 but still needs to be passed by the senate and signed into law by the president. While we were not opposed to the Eighteenth Amendment as it currently stands, we feel that the Nineteenth Amendment, which amends the procedure for the appointment of judges, is a good compromise that retains the system of checks and balances between the three branches of government.

Under the proposed amendment, judges would be nominated by a judicial commission and approved or rejected by a parliamentary panel, though a rejection would have to be accompanied by an explanatory note. This gives parliament some power over the judiciary while also protecting the judiciary from being politicised by parliament. The judiciary is prevented from being a largely self-selecting elite as it currently is and parliament, by virtue of having to publicly justify and defend its reasons for rejecting judicial nominees, is prevented from making such decisions for overtly political motives. The amendment, therefore, can be expected to result in a balance of institutional power and we would urge members of parliament to approve it as soon as possible.

While the legal challenges to the Eighteenth Amendment had been viewed by some to be a threat to the current administration, the prime minister deserves credit for resolving the situation without causing any further acrimony. The prime minister is correct in his assessment that this administration may well be the most powerful democratic administration in the country’s history, in large part owing to its ability to compromise at the appropriate junctures.

A special note of gratitude is due to Senator Raza Rabbani. Leading the parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms, which includes members from across the entire political spectrum, cannot have been an easy task and yet the senator has been able to produce legislation that the nation can be justifiably proud of.

Published in The Express Tribune December 23^rd, 2010.