By Iftikhar Mashwani
ISLAMABAD: The Senate has passed the 26th Constitution Amendment Bill 2024, with members of the House voting in favour of 22 clauses.
The bill is now expected to be passed by the National Assembly to enact it into law.
Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the 26th constitutional amendment in the Upper House and subsequently moved a motion for its approval, which was passed with a two-thirds majority in the House, with 65 members voting in favor of the amendment, while four members opposed it.
Members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) did not participate in the voting process and left the hall to go to the lobbies.
Following multiple delays and much controversy, the bill, better known as the Constitutional Package, is legislation proposing a set of constitutional amendments, including the fixture of the chief justice’s term. A special parliamentary committee formed last month which has the representation of all parties, including the PTI had been discussing various proposals.
Approved by the federal cabinet earlier with the consensus of the government’s coalition partners, the bill was presented in the Senate today by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
At the beginning of the session, the law minister presented the bill following which senators delivered their speeches.
Once the bill containing 22 clauses — was officially tabled, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani read out its contents and asked lawmakers to cast their votes.
Following the voting, the constitutional amendment bill was approved by a two-thirds majority.
“Sixty-five members are in favour of the motion regarding the passage of the bill, and four members are against it,” Gilani said. “So, the motion is carried out by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate, and consequently, the bill stands passed.”
Speaking about speculations regarding the extension of the chief justice’s tenure in the Constitutional Package, Tarar clarified that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa was not interested in any extension.
“During the three meetings that I had with the top judge, he reiterated his disinterest in the extension of his tenure, saying that any amendments would come into effect after his retirement,” Tarar said.
