KP Assembly proceedings: Law minister says KP govt to oppose amendments to Constitution

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Law Aftab Alam Khan has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) -led provincial government will oppose the proposed amendments to the Constitution as it was an attempt to curtail the independence of the judiciary and create parallel court system.

Speaking on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly floor on Thursday, he said the provincial cabinet had decided to challenge the proposed amendments to the Constitution in the Supreme Court as the federal government wanted to curtail the powers of judiciary and judges in the name of judicial reforms.

“Arrest of the PTI leaders and MNAs from the Parliament premises was an attack on the Parliament and its supremacy,” he said and added that all political parties must join hands for the supremacy of the Parliament and independence of the judiciary.

The provincial minister accused the establishment of interference in the country’s affairs. He asked the military to perform its professional role of defending the country’s frontiers instead of interfering in politics.

Awami National Party MPA Nisar Baz said that his party had set certain conditions to support the 26th amendment to the Constitution as the party had expressed its reservations over the draft of the proposed amendment as it had not been fully shared with the members of the Parliament.

“We will oppose all amendments that are against the spirit of the 1973 Constitution, 18th amendment and basic human rights and freedom,” he said and added the ANP would welcome the formation of the federal constitutional court as it was one of the longstanding demands of the party.

Earlier, the opposition leader in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Dr Ibadullah Khan, while talking to the media persons in the Press Gallery, said the political parties had agreed on setting up a constitutional court as part of the Charter of Democracy in 2006, saying that if any political party or parliamentarians had reservations, they should voice it at the time of its presentation in the Parliament.

“The founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf Imran Khan had agreed to the constitutional court,” he claimed and said that Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman could include changes or proposals in the 26th amendment to the Constitution.