ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudry doubled down on the parliament’s right to amend Pakistan’s constitution on Sunday, criticizing a move by two senior judges of the Supreme Court to resign in protest against it.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court judges Athar Minallah and Mansoor Ali Shah resigned in protest hours after the 27th Constitutional Amendment was signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday.
The controversial amendment grants lifetime immunity to the president and army chief. It also elevates Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to the post of Chief of Defense Forces (CDS) with a five-year tenure and establishes a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), separate from the Supreme Court, to hear and interpret constitutional matters.
Critics argue the amendment was passed to grant the military expanded powers and clip the judiciary’s autonomy. Justice Shah, in his resignation letter on Thursday, described the amendment as a “grave assault” on Pakistan’s constitution.
“These are political resignations and their judgments have also remained political for a long time,” Chaudry told reporters at a press conference in Faisalabad.
Pakistani governments have remained at loggerheads with the Supreme Court in recent years. In the past, verdicts issued by top courts have resulted in the ousters of former prime ministers and suo motu notices that have angered civilian governments and hindered their policies.
Chaudry said it remains the right of the parliament to amend the constitution, adding that “the parliament should look like a parliament.”
“Hence, the parliament should become a parliament and the 26th and 27th amendments have provided stability to Pakistan,” the minister said.
“And if we have to make further amendments with the help of other parties in future, we will.”
Pakistan’s opposition parties, led by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and lawyers’ bodies, have also criticized the amendments.
Lawyers’ bodies say the reforms allow the government to shape constitutional adjudication through direct influence over the appointment and composition of the newly formed FCC.
Under the new arrangement, the executive selects the FCC’s chief justice and initial bench, while the Supreme Court becomes primarily an appellate forum.
City courts in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi remained closed for three consecutive days on Saturday in protest against the amendments.
