QUETTA: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reaffirmed his party’s commitment to pursuing judicial reforms despite lacking the necessary parliamentary strength to pass contentious constitutional amendments.
Speaking at a Peoples Lawyers Forum event in Quetta, Bilawal stressed that the PPP would not bow to external pressure in achieving this goal.
"It’s unacceptable to abandon a necessary task due to pressure," Bilawal stated. He revealed that PPP had been urged to withdraw its proposed constitutional amendments or to roll back the 18th Amendment.
He highlighted the PPP’s successes through the 18th Amendment, such as renaming the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Bilawal criticized the current judicial appointment process, saying it benefits only judges and called for reforms. He proposed the creation of a parliamentary committee with members from both the treasury and opposition to oversee judicial appointments. If a nominee fails to gain majority approval in the committee, they would not be appointed as a judge.
He also expressed concern about the judicial system's failure to deliver justice to victims of terrorism and the large backlog of cases.
Bilawal advocated for the formation of a constitutional court with equal provincial representation to address these issues and suggested that such courts should be established in each province, not just in Islamabad. However, he noted that there was no consensus yet on the mechanism for provincial constitutional courts.
Responding to criticism of the proposed amendments, Bilawal said political differences were the root cause of the opposition’s objections. He emphasized that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and other coalition partners shared the PPP’s stance on the constitutional courts but insisted on building consensus among all parties based on the PPP manifesto and Benazir Bhutto's vision for judicial reforms.
Bilawal reiterated the PPP’s dedication to fulfilling Benazir Bhutto’s 2006 promise of judicial reforms, despite the party’s lack of a two-thirds parliamentary majority. He acknowledged that the government had attempted to pass the proposed amendments amid rumors of a possible extension for Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October.
Despite efforts to gather enough votes, the government has yet to table the judiciary-focused amendments in parliament and has postponed the move indefinitely. The ruling coalition remains short of 13 votes in the National Assembly and nine in the Senate.
Earlier, Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasized on Government of Balochistan to utilize all available resources to assist flood affected people.
Distributing cheques among flood affectees in Quetta today, he said we should take climate change seriously and provide maximum relief to people.
Bilawal Bhutto said the resources of Balochistan are limited and there is need to utilize these resources rightly.
Meanwhile, talking to Peoples lawyers Forum in Quetta, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party signed charter of democracy for development of the country.
He said Pakistan Peoples Party always rendered sacrifices for democracy.
He said we will continue to work for the welfare of people.
