The Pakistani Parliament adopted, on Monday, October 21, a constitutional reform that expands its powers over the Supreme Court, within the framework of a vote widely boycotted by the opposition, which denounced a form of“suffocate” justice.
This reform, which the Government had been trying to approve for several weeks, was adopted a few days before the president of the Supreme Court, Judge Qazi Faez Isa, retired. Without this review, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would have had to assume the presidency of the Supreme Court, of which he is the dean. This magistrate consistently issued verdicts considered favorable to the imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, a 72-year-old former international cricketer.
The President of the Supreme Court will now be appointed by a parliamentary committee for a period of three years. Until now, the outgoing member was automatically replaced by the oldest member of the Court. “The objective of these amendments is to block judicial decisions that hinder [le fonctionnement] of Parliament »Defense Minister Asif Khawaja explained on Saturday. “We will not compromise on the supremacy of Parliament”he stressed.
“Dark side”
The opposition Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) boycotted the vote. Omar Ayub Khan, its leader, denounced the amendments “have the effect of stifling a free judicial system”. “They do not represent the Pakistani people”declared during the session. “A government established through fraud cannot modify the Constitution”he proclaimed.
The PTI emerged victorious from February’s legislative elections, marred by allegations of fraud, and continues to repeat that it should actually have formed the government, currently in the hands of a coalition led by Shehbaz Sharif. Tensions between the government and judicial institutions have recently increased.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the Election Commission was wrong to force PTI candidates to stand as independents in the legislative elections. He had also granted Khan’s party about twenty parliamentary seats not subject to suffrage and reserved for women and religious minorities.
Bilal Gilani, who heads the country’s main electoral institute, believes that these amendments “earnings”, particularly in terms of rebalancing and impartiality of judges. “The reform has another dark side: it creates a judicial system more receptive to the concerns of those in power”duck. “In view of the old disputes (…)“These changes could trigger a new confrontation between the justice clan and the government.”writes the editorialist of Sunrisethe reference magazine in English. The reform, adopted at dawn, also provides for the creation of a Constitutional Council.
short majority
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), managed to gather the two-thirds majority necessary for the adoption of this text thanks to the support of its historical rival, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). ). ). He also won the votes of a handful of PTI-affiliated deputies, following the court’s decision a few weeks earlier to authorize parliamentarians to override their group’s voting instructions for certain important texts. Mr. Sharif welcomed “a historic day that affirms the supremacy of Parliament”.
Since the partition of India in 1947, the Pakistani Constitution has been amended twenty-two times. Khan has seen his legal cases, often linked to corruption allegations, go through different courts, one of which openly alleged intimidation by Pakistan’s intelligence services. In July, a panel of UN experts judged his detention. ” arbitrary “ and demanded his immediate release. Imran Khan’s supporters mobilized en masse during his arrest more than a year ago and continue to demonstrate regularly.
Authorities recently imposed new restrictions on gatherings in Islamabad. Ten PTI deputies were arrested and presented before an anti-terrorism judge a few days after the approval of this law. After coming to power in 2018, Khan was overthrown by a vote of no confidence in 2022 after losing the support of the almighty army, according to experts.
