— JUI-F chief to meet Nawaz Sharif today to get PML-N on board
— Maulana Fazl to contact PTI leadership for consensus package
KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Tuesday agreed on a joint draft of the highly anticipated constitutional amendments while both the party leaders have decided to contact Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership and try to get their support over their joint draft.
Addressing a press conference here after a meeting, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that both the parties had agreed on a draft proposal which would also be shared with the PTI and other parties.
It merits mentioning that draft bill proposing a number of constitutional reforms, including an extension of the term of the top judge, is known as the “Constitutional Package.”
The JUI-F was working on a third draft of the constitutional package, while the government was working on the second two. All parties, including the PTI, are represented on the committee, which is chaired by Khursheed Shah of the PPP.
Following a plainclothes raid to apprehend the PTI members from Parliament House, the speaker of the National Assembly established it to promote harmony among parliamentarians, especially between the PTI and the government.
Only a day back, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had told media persons in Hyderabad that there was harmony in the drafts of the PML-N, the PPP and the JUI-F. He said proposals rejected by the JUI-F had been removed from the draft by the government.
He said the amendments would be rejected if a consensus could not be reached. He had indicated that amendments that infringed upon fundamental rights or aimed to strengthen some specific institution would not be acceptable.
Fazl visited PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in Karachi on Tuesday. In a press conference after their meeting, he said: “I can say this much after a long discussion that our two parties have agreed on a draft.”
Fazl said he still needed to meet PML-N President Nawaz Sharif today and desired his agreement, adding that he also had to meet the PTI leadership.
“It will be our effort to create such a consensus in this bill that it is unanimously considered a constitutional amendment.”
He said “serious” talks were held with the PPP and lauded Bilawal for playing a “big role” in achieving the consensus.
Bilawal said there was a further need to build upon the consensus achieved today between the two parties, adding that the PPP was also invited to the Nawaz-Fazl meeting.
He hoped that the PPP-JUI-F consensus would convert into one with the PML-N as well. Bilawal said Fazl was desirous that this consensus included not only the government’s allied parties but also the PTI and other opposition parties.
“If this [consensus] is possible and happens, then it will lend great strength to our constitutional process and it will bring improvement.
“The goal of every one of us is not person-specific or a limitation by the time. Our emphasis … is only on finding solutions to the nation’s problems.”
Bilawal said he hoped that the final bill passed by the National Assembly would be based on the consensus achieved between the two parties.
He added that the prevalent environment in the country made it seem unlikely that political parties would talk with one another and agree, further saying that he hoped all issues in the country would be solved by political parties by achieving consensus with one another for the sake of the nation.
To a question, Bilawal said the PML-N was “active in its own way” regarding the constitutional amendment, adding that “we have our own ways and they have another way”.
Meanwhile, Fazl said his party still rejected the first draft whose details were revealed.
Prodded for details and confirmation about the points of the shared draft, Bilawal said further time was required to tell more about its final shape and what it would look like since the agreement of other parties was needed as well and then the final version could be passed through parliament.
He also said he would “welcome” Fazl taking input from the PTI on the draft.
