ISLAMABAD: In a surprise move, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman hinted at supporting the proposed formation of a constitutional court.

He also did not reject the government’s proposal to fix the tenure of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) at three years, or increasing the age of a judge of the apex court, but said it should not be person-specific.

On the issue of constitutional court, he said, he would try to convince the main opposition PTI.

The JUI-F chief expres­sed these views during a dis­­cussion with some TV anchors he had invited to his residence on Wednesday.

Regarding the proposed formation of the constitutional court, the JUI-F chief said that while he would support the move, it should not be done in haste, one of the participants in the discussion confided to Dawn.

The government has recently made an abortive attempt to pass the controversial constitutional package legislation, as it lacked the required two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. The constitutional package contains a proposed constitutional amendment to fix the tenure of the CJP for three years, increasing the number of judges in the apex court from 17 to 23.

However, the package could not be tabled in the parliament as the government remained unable to convince Maulana Fazl in getting JUI-F’s support to meet the two-thirds majority requirement.

He said the age limit of judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan could be increased to 67 years, as was the case in Bangladesh.

A participant of the discussion said the Maulana also did not oppose the option of military courts, saying that a sunset clause had been inserted in the past as well.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2024