The 26th Amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution granting Parliament the authority to appoint country’s chief justice.

Pakistan passed its 26th Constitutional Amendment giving the parliament the power to appoint a chief justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the seniority-based succession practice. The new amendment approved in an overnight session of the National Assembly on Monday has been widely viewed as an attempt by the government to curb the influence of the judiciary that has been repeatedly issuing rulings favorable to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The amendment decrees that henceforth, the Chief Justice of Pakistan will be elected by a parliamentary committee and will serve for three years. This is a radical step from the trend earlier, which had followed seniority within the Supreme Court in filling the position of Chief Justice. The bill, which follows months of political jostling, voted through the lower house of parliament after an hours-long session.

It is exactly that timing that makes the amendment particularly urgent. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is said to be retiring soon, by the rules governing the system until now, his successor would have been none other than Justice Mansoor Ali Shah. Unfailingly, Shah issued judgments in favor of Khan and PTI. By the new law, however, Shah is no longer going to be the definite next Chief Justice of Pakistan.

The amendment also prescribes an overhaul in the system of appointment of the Chief Justice and directs the setting up of Constitutional assemblies consisting of special panels of senior judges, who will exclusively deal with constitutional matters. New Judicial Formations The new judicial formations are an attempt to ease the long-standing conflict between the executive and the judiciary that gathered momentum following the alleged rigging during the February general elections. The Supreme Court has, in the last couple of months, delivered several judgments that favored Khan and his party, both furthering the strain on relations between the executive and judicial arms.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the passage of the amendment was a victory for parliamentary sovereignty.”. In a statement after the passage of the bill, he called it “a historic day, affirming the supremacy of Parliament.” Sharif underlined that the amendment is more than an amendment from a legal point of view. “Today’s amendment, the 26th, is not only an amendment, but an example of national solidarity and consensus. A new sun will rise, emanating across the nation,” he said.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, to which Sharif belongs, will get the proposed bill passed in parliament with a two-thirds majority; however, it was passed with the help of Sharif’s political rival turned coalition partner Pakistan People’s Party. Interestingly, the vote of the proposed amendment was also supported by a few rebel PTI members of parliament.

Criticism from Opposition: ‘Choking a Free Judiciary’

However, the changes have been severely criticized by PTI leaders. PTI leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, criticized these changes by labeling them for the undermining independence of judiciary. “These amendments are like asphyxiating a free judiciary. They do not represent the people of Pakistan,” he said. Ayub criticized the government further by saying, “A government which came into power through rigging cannot amend the constitution.”

The amendment has evoked mixed reactions from political analysts. According to Bilal Gilani, head of Pakistan’s leading polling agency, the reform may indeed curtail judicial activism, which has been a contentious issue in the politics of Pakistan. According to Gilani, “This amendment brings some balance, but a more sinister side of this amendment creates a judiciary that is more pliant with the concerns of the government.”

This change could further limit the powers of courts to check governmental power, he warned.

Judiciary and Governance

It passes an immense amendment to the political scenario in Pakistan: the power is given to the Parliament so that they have a greater influence on the judiciary. For some it would be the attempt to cage the onslaught of the independent judiciary especially when cases pertain to the PTI and Imran Khan. Others provide a good reason to argue that it can be used to erosion of judicial independence and overreach by the government.

Now that it would be the politicians who appointed the Chief Justice, it remained to be seen how Pakistan’s future legally and politically would turn out. This amendment would likely alter the confluence of power between the judiciary and the government and bring with it several immediate as well as long-term implications for the country’s governance.

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