Barrister Gohar refutes Khawaja Asif’s claim of consensus on constitutional amendment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohr Ali Khan has refuted Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s claim that the main opposition party had objection to the proposed constitutional amendment and they have sought time till December.

Reacting to Khawaja Asif’s recent statement, Gohar said that Khawaja Asif was not part of the special parliamentary committee, and “the PTI has not agreed to any constitutional amendment.”

“The PTI did not discuss any such that it will require time till December on the proposed constitutional amendment and we do not support for any proposal or package,” he said in a statement.

He said that PTI had asked the government to provide a draft or working paper outlining the amendment so that the party can review the full details. “Without seeing the draft, PTI cannot and will not given its consent,” he said

Earlier, Khawaja Asif had said that the draft of the government’s proposed constitutional amendment was no longer secret as all key leaders have accessed it.

Khawaja Asif had claimed that “the PTI has no objection to the amendment and their leaders said, “We have no objections, just defer it until December.”

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah has said there had been informal discussions with the PTI on the proposed amendment. He said that “PTI leaders believe the amendment would bring improvements,”.

He further said that the agreed-upon amendments could be passed by the Senate and National Assembly in the first week of October, while efforts are ongoing to achieve consensus on the remaining points.

Sanaullah also downplayed the lack of a two-thirds majority, stating that the government aims to pass the amendment with consensus, by taking all parties on board.