ISLAMABAD: Categorically rejecting the fresh bills bulldozed through the National Assembly and the Senate, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Monday accused the government of turning parliament into a “rubber-stamp”.
Talking to journalists outside the Parliament House, the PTI chairman said: “Pakistan’s parliament is being made rubber-stamp. [Opposition’s] voice in the House is being silenced. This monarchy cannot be the fate of the Pakistani nation.”
His remarks came after the lower house of parliament passed six bills including “The Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, 2024 with the majority vote, following a detailed clause-by-clause review.
Other bills include the “Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” the “Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2024,” Pakistan Army Amendment Bill, 2024,” the Pakistan Air Force Amendment Bill, 2024,” and the “Pakistan Navy Amendment Bill, 2024.”
The PTI leader said that the people of Pakistan reject any kind of legislation that would lead the country to a monarchy.
“As usual, the government was in a hurry [to get the bill passed from the House] today.”
Referring to the pace of approval by the parliament, Barrister Gohar said that he was sure that the lawmakers who gave their nod to the legislation today did not even know the content of the bills.
The PTI chief further said that the government passed the bill to increase the number of judges in the top court in a bid to appoint CJP of its choice. One of the bills passed by the parliament sought to increase the number of judges in the SC up to 34 to “clear the backlog of cases”.
Slamming the SC-centric bill, the PTI leader said: “A state has three pillars, if you weak one pillar, you are weakening the whole state.”
He was of the view that the government was usurping the basic rights of the people and pushing the country towards destruction.
