Opposition to kick-start protests against tweaks from Friday
ISLAMABAD: After the government passed the 27th Constitutional Amendment in the National Assembly, the head of the opposition alliance, Tehreek-e-TahafuzAyeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Mahmood Khan Achakzai, on Wednesday announced launching a public movement against the tweaks from Friday.
Achakzai, along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, held a press conference in the Parliament House where they strongly criticised the newly-approved constitutional amendment.
The TTAP head said that they are ready to hold talks with the incumbent government; however, it would be organised to discuss returning the stolen mandate.
Gohar said that the amendments were brought to the parliament in haste and blamed the coalition government, ruled by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with its key ally — Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), for making “decisions in personal interests”.
He censured that the federal government added clauses A and B to Article 260, making the post of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) a “musical chair” after the formation of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
The PTI chairman claimed that the said tweaks mentioned that the current CJP’s post will be retained by the current top jurist, who is Justice YahyaAfridi of the Supreme Court, till completion of his tenure.
He went on to say that according to the amendment, CJP Afridi will serve as the country’s top jurist till 2027, and after his tenure, the FCC’s top judge would become the chief justice of the country.
Gohar vowed that if his party returns to power, it would reverse these amendments.
PkMAP and TTAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, while addressing the National Assembly, said that the current government had been formed on the basis of Form-47.
He remarked that there was a person in the House who had lost by 6,000 votes, yet was offered a seat but refused. “Another person also turned down the same offer,” Achakzai, the chief of the opposition alliance, added. He questioned whether such a parliament, formed under these circumstances, had the authority to amend the Constitution.
During the session, Achakzai tore up a copy of the 27th Amendment Bill in protest.
He said that efforts were being made to block the path of public rule in Pakistan, expressing sorrow over what he described as an undemocratic amendment to the Constitution. The struggle between democratic and non-democratic forces in Pakistan was ongoing, he added.
Achakzai further questioned why, if the PTI founder Imran Khan was considered good or bad, he was allowed to become the prime minister in the first place.
“The country’s top judiciary stripped one party of its election symbol, yet PTI managed to contest under different symbols and still transformed the political landscape,” he said.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also spoke on a point of order, saying that his party had made every possible effort to participate in the negotiations.
He alleged that PTI’s MNAs had been removed from the Parliament House and recalled that on November 26, several of their members were martyred. “We have stood with Pakistan and will always stand with Pakistan,” Barrister Gohar asserted. He further claimed that their chief minister was not being allowed to meet his leader. Staff Report
