- Warns if balance of power between institutions not maintained, it could lead to country’s destruction
- Military’s involvement in polls an efforts to bring govt of its choice have weakened country: JUI-F chief
MULTAN: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday said he rejected the government’s proposed constitutional amendments, which is limiting fundamental rights and expanding the military’s role.
“The draft includes provisions that could significantly impact the judiciary, allowing the government to transfer judges or reassign cases if a decision is unfavourable. This would undermine the system, even affecting High Court judges,” the JUI-F chief stated while speaking to the media in Multan on Friday.
Fazl revealed that the government’s proposal sought to establish a Federal Constitutional Court and had initially included provisions for extending judges’ tenure and increasing the number of judges. However, the government later withdrew these suggestions but retained the idea of creating the new court.
“We told the government that this is merely a headline; show us the actual draft first, and then we will discuss,” he said.
The JUI-F chief disclosed that the government was initially reluctant to share the draft with his party, even though a copy had been provided to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). “Eventually, they gave us a copy, but I cannot say for sure whether both copies are identical. We do not know if there have been additions or subtractions in the new version,” he remarked.
After legal experts reviewed the draft, Fazl expressed disappointment, stating that while the Constitution protects every citizen’s rights, the proposed amendments grant exemptions to the military and restrict the scope of fundamental rights.
Fazl also voiced his concern over the growing trend of exchanging interests in politics, which he believes has become the norm. “We have always conducted politics based on principles and for the nation, rejecting all proposals that were against human rights or only served to protect the government,” he stated.
The JUI-F chief acknowledged that the idea of a Federal Constitutional Court is included in the Charter of Democracy, given the Supreme Court’s current backlog of 60,000 cases and the overall 2.4 million pending cases across the country. However, he pointed out that when the draft was handed to them, the government did not have the majority to pass it, and the approval hinged on JUI-F’s support. “We made it clear that we are not satisfied and cannot support this draft,” he asserted.
Fazl mentioned that the PPP Chairman met with him, and they agreed to draft their own versions of the amendments, which would then be shared with each other to reach a consensus. “Legislation is the job of parliament, and we will not tolerate any restrictions on this. However, if the balance of power between institutions is not maintained, it could lead to the country’s destruction,” he warned.
He emphasised that every institution should operate within its constitutional limits. “If institutions work within their boundaries, everything will proceed smoothly; otherwise, the country will weaken,” Fazl said.
He expressed concern over the current situation, where the military’s involvement in elections and its efforts to bring a government of its choice have weakened the country. “There was a time when no one was willing to listen to anything against the military, but today, no one is ready to speak in its favour. This is distressing for us,” he lamented.
To a question, the JUI-F chief confirmed that work on their draft was underway, which will take about a week to ten days to complete. “We agree on the establishment of a Constitutional Court, but we rejected the government’s draft because of the evident mal-intent, particularly the extension of military exemptions at the cost of human rights,” he declared.
