Maulana Fazl hints at supporting constitutional amendment

KARACHI: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has expressed his desire for constitutional amendment to be approved by consensus, stating that any extension of top officials of institutions should be based on needs rather than specific interests.

According to a statement issued by JUI-F’s media cell, talking to senior journalists in Karachi he emphasised that the proposed constitutional amendment should be passed with mutual agreement. He also expressed support for the setting up of a constitutional court.

Maulana Fazl noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif only requested support for the constitutional amendment. He pointed out that while everyone had previously supported former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, but everyone knew about its ramifications.

He further said that the ongoing deadlock over the constitutional amendment was due to personal preferences, whereas the amendment should be made in the broader national interest and rather being individual-specific.

He said that the involvement of institutions in elections should not be seen as a means of keeping the country united.

The JUI-F chief also said that two provinces were under the control of armed groups. He said that nationalist parties in one province and religious parties in another were ousted through rigging, which led to the collapse of the writ of the state in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Earlier, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that his party rejected the government-drafted constitutional amendment because it sought to curb fundamental rights and give military an expanded role with exemptions.

Speaking to the media in Multan, he said that the government said it was withdrawing proposals to extend the tenure of judges and increase their number. However, there is still a proposal to establish a federal constitutional court, for which the JUI’s support was being sought. He clarified that they told the government that this is merely a title, and they will only discuss it once the full draft is shown.