PPP to oppose 24th Amendment till PanamaLeaks decision: Aitzaz

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Friday announced to oppose the 24th Constitutional Amendment till the decision on the Panamaleaks being taken up by the apex court. He said that the amendment was aimed at protecting political interests.

Talking to newsmen after the Senate Standing Committee meeting on Friday, Aitzaz said that he had talked to PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the 24th Amendment.He said the PPP would oppose the constitutional amendments forcefully. He alleged that the amendment was being introduced for political interests.

He said that if the amendment was passed, implementation on the Supreme Court verdict before appeal would not be possible.He said when the PPP demanded such an amendment, the PML-N rejected the demand and now when they (PML-N) had been trapped, they brought the amendment which is based on malafide intention.

He said that the prime minister could not escape from punishment in the PanamaLeaks case.The PPP leader said that the 24th Amendment was being presented in parliament for political interests of the rulers. He accused the government of delaying tactics on the Panama bills. He said that all the movers were not present in the committee meeting as notices were not sent to all the members. He said that Babar Awan is part of the opposition.

He said that the lawyers of Nawaz Sharif were of the view that Nawaz would be able to get a clean chit.It may be mentioned here that the federal government introduced the Constitution (24th Amendment) Bill 2016 in the National Assembly on November 18, proposing a right to appeal against an order of the Supreme Court passed in suo motu cases.

Currently, the only remedy available to aggrieved persons under this jurisdiction of the apex court is a review petition and that too is heard by the same bench that had earlier passed the order. The bill suggests adding two new clauses 184(4) and 184(5) to Article 184 (original jurisdiction of Supreme Court) of the Constitution.