Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Saturday said the ruling coalition could introduce another constitutional amendment if needed to “maintain stability” in the country.
His remarks come just three days after the 27th Amendment was signed into law after passage from the National Assembly and the Senate, amid strong opposition by the opposition parties.
Insisting that the 26th and 27th Amendments brought “stability” to the country, Chaudhry said, “If another amendment is needed to maintain this stability, we will definitely bring it together with other parties.”
“The parliament will bring amendments whenever it wants, and the parliament should do them. The parliament should be seen as a parliament,” the PML-N leader said while addressing a media briefing in Punjab’s Faisalabad.
Responding to a query, Chaudhry termed the recent resignations of superior court judges as “political”.
On November 13, the day the 27th Amendment was enacted into law, the Supreme Court’s then-senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah resigned, censuring the legislation as an “assault” on the Constitution and as weakening the judiciary.
A day later, Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza quit the Lahore High Court, also citing the 27th Amendment as the reason, and the Islamabad High Court might also see some departures.
The state minister asserted that making amendments to the Constitution was the parliament’s right.
“Judges take oath under the Constitution; they are not a political party that they will resign if the Constitution is amended,” the PML-N leader said. “The Constitution will not be as per their (judges’) wishes, but of the parliament and the people of Pakistan,” he asserted.
“Their (judges’) every single thing — from their salaries to their decisions — is decided by the parliament,” the state minister said.
He further accused the senior judges who resigned of being “biased” and of handing “political” judgments.
“There have been many extensions of ‘good to see you’, but the environment is not the same anymore,” Chaudhry quipped, referring to the renowned remark made by former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial in May 2023, when he said “good to see you” to ex-premier Imran Khan upon his court appearance.
The PML-N leader lamented the judges’ alleged excessive use of suo-motus — the SC’s power to take notice of matters of public importance but has now been revoked under the 27th Amendment — to “send prime ministers home” and assail the government on a whim.
On the PTI’s decision to boycott the upcoming by-elections in Faisalabad, Chaudhry said the party did not want to contest wherever there was considerable opposition.
By-elections on two NA seats (NA-96, NA-104) and three provincial ones (PP-98, PP-115, PP-116) in Faisalabad district are set for November 23.
The PML-N is likely to win all five seats up thanks to the PTI’s boycott, the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) being in no condition to contest due to the recent ban on it, and the PPP fielding no candidate.