LAHORE: Incarcerated former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazalur Rehman acted with great wisdom opposing the constitutional amendments being made in haste.

“I commend Maulana Fazlur Rehman for not giving in to pressure,” he said, talking to the reporters in an anti-terrorism court.

Mr Qureshi urged all political parties to go through the bill draft carefully and engage in debate. He said constitutional amendments were sensitive and serious matters, and rushing them was inappropriate. He said it was unfortunate that the draft had been kept hidden from political parties. He said the legal community already opposed the proposed amendments. “This amendment amounts to burying the Constitution,” he claimed.

The PTI leader said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari should realise that his grandfather had framed the 1973 Constitution through a consensus, and now he (Bilawal) was burying his grandfather’s Constitution.

Mr Qureshi alleged that the proposed ‘constitutional package’ was an attack on the independence of the judiciary. The lawyers of Pakistan fought a long struggle for the Constitution, he added.

He said the parliament was incomplete as the PTI had not yet received its reserved seats. He questioned how an incomplete parliament can pass the amendment.

YASMIN RASHID: PTI Punjab President Yasmin Rashid said on Monday former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was attempting to undermine an independent judiciary and democracy through constitutional amendments.

Speaking to newsmen in an anti-terrorism court, she said the government was trying to turn parliament into a “cattle market” by amending Article 63-A, which deals with defection. She said those who were digging pits for PTI through the amendments would eventually fall into them. She warned if the government’s proposed amendments were passed, a monarchy-like system would be established in the country.

Mr Qureshi, Dr Yasmin and several other leaders of the PTI were presented before the ATC for hearings of May 9 cases against them. However, the proceedings were adjourned till Sept 26 due to the transfer of the judge.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2024