ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker late Monday notified a 12-member Special Parliamentary Committee that will nominate the new chief justice, a notification from the National Assembly Secretariat stated, days before the incumbent top judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa is set to retire. 

The development takes place a day after the government passed a set of contentious constitutional amendments that have generated heated debate in the country, with opposition parties and prominent lawyers alleging the new law aims to curtail the judiciary’s independence. The government rejects these allegations, saying that the amendments are aimed at empowering Pakistan’s parliament and providing speedy justice to the country’s citizens. 

The most prominent amendment made by the ruling coalition government is the one that empowers the parliament to establish a 12-member parliamentary committee to nominate the country’s chief justice from a panel of the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court. Pakistan’s incumbent top judge, Justice Isa, is set to retire on Friday. 

“In terms of clause (3B) of Article 175A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Honourable Speaker National Assembly has been pleased to notify the Special Parliamentary Committee consisting of the following members as per nominations by the respective Parliamentary Leaders based on their strength in the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) for the nomination of the Chief Justice of Pakistan under clause (3) of Article 175A of the Constitution,” a notification by the NA Secretariat read. 

The parliamentary committee comprises eight lawmakers from the National Assembly and four from the upper house of parliament, the Senate. Of these 12 members, eight are from the treasury benches while four are from the opposition. 

The committee includes the names of Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, ruling party lawmaker Shaista Pervaiz, Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Syed Naveed Qamar and Senator Farooq H Naek, and Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Rana Ansar. 

From the opposition benches, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members Gohar Ali Khan and Senator Ali Zafar were notified to the committee. Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza and Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan Fazl’s Senator Kamran Murtaza were the other opposition lawmakers named to the committee. 

However, the PTI said it would not partake in the committee’s meeting on Tuesday in which it is expected to kick off the nomination process for the new chief justice. 

“[Party’s] political committee decided not to participate,” the PTI said in a message to reporters. 

TENSIONS WITH THE TOP COURT

Khan’s PTI has accused Justice Isa of being aligned with the government and says the amendment was passed to grant him an extension in office. The government has rejected these allegations. 

Under the previous law, Justice Isa would have been automatically replaced by the most senior judge behind him, currently Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, who has consistently issued verdicts deemed favorable to Khan and the PTI. 

Sharif’s government has passed the bill, which it says ensures the parliament will not remain a rubber stamp one, in the wake of its tensions with the judiciary that have been on the rise since the February national election. 

In July, Pakistan’s top court ruled that the country’s election commission was wrong to have sidelined Khan’s party in the election campaign by forcing its lawmakers to stand as independents due to a technical violation. It also awarded Khan’s party a handful of non-elected reserved parliamentary seats for women and religious minorities, which would give Khan’s party a majority in parliament, angering the government. 

Khan, who was ousted from office after a parliamentary vote in April 2022, remains popular among the masses. He has since waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the country’s powerful military, which is thought to be aligned with the government. Khan has been languishing in prison since August 2023 after being convicted on several charges ranging from corruption to treason that he says are politically motivated.