LAHORE: The ruling parties essentially prevailed over Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F on Wednesday during a meeting at Jati Umra, the Sharif family’s Lahore home, with their “judicial reform package.”
To get full agreement on the constitutional revisions, which have recently been a point of controversy in national politics, the parties still need the PTI’s cooperation.
In addition to making final adjustments to the changes, the meeting, which was attended by the leaders of the PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F, examined the revisions extensively and aimed to resolve the sticking points.
They convened a news conference after midnight to inform the media of the meeting’s outcome. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of JUI-F, stated that the three had reached “near consensus” on several matters and that agreement had been reached on other points. He seemed upbeat as he stated that they were approaching an agreement.
He stated that changes will be made to improve the institutions and said, “After I get to Islamabad, I will talk to the PTI about the proposed amendments and try to take it on board.”
The PPP’s chair, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, stated that the amendments would be approved by parliament at the proper time. The PPP president stated, “Today, the consensus on proposed drafts that was reached between two parties, the PPP and JUI-F, on Tuesday is among three parties: PML-N, PPP, and JUI-F.”
He said that the new constitutional court would safeguard the Constitution and provide prompt justice.
Leader of the PML-N, Ishaq Dar, stated that the three parties have reached a consensus about judicial reforms.
Maulana Fazl is apparently firm in his desire for a five-member constitutional bench in the Supreme Court rather than the independent court that the ruling parties have suggested, even as these parties purportedly polish their drafts.
Dawn was informed by a high-ranking PPP official that the party will not change its position regarding the establishment of an independent constitutional court. He stated, “We are optimistic that the Maulana will ultimately accept our proposal.”
Along with PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, other attendees included Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz, Punjab Governor Saleem Haider Khan, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, Ministers of Interior Mohsin Naqvi and Law Azam Nazeer Tarar, Mayor of Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb of Punjab, and PPP’s Naveed Qamar were also present.
Maulana Fazl visited Mr. Bhutto-Zardari on Tuesday while he was in Karachi. The two parties decided to work together to prepare a joint amendment to the constitution and to foster unity among the other parliamentary parties.
The JUI-F opposed the prior attempt by the ruling PML-N to ramrod these revisions through, therefore the legislation could not be tabled even though the legislatures were in session.
Subsequently, Mr. Bhutto-Zardari assumed leadership in fostering agreement on “much-needed judicial reforms,” the main one being the establishment of a constitutional court. The PPP leader claimed that this court represented an unfulfilled goal of the Charter of Democracy, which his late mother Benazir Bhutto had signed.
