ISLAMABAD: The Coalition government faced a major setback after the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PML(N)-led government failed to reach a consensus on the proposed constitutional amendments.
Sources said that, in a surprising turn of events the Pakistan Peoples Party — the coalition party in the incumbent government — has separated itself from the prospective constitutional amendments. PPP has given a free hand to its parliamentarians as Qasim Gilani and Hina Rabbani Khar have left for abroad, sources said.
Day-long political activities in the federal capital surrounding politically astute Maulana Fazlur Rehman finally ended last night, as both houses of the parliament briefly convened following multiple postponements, only to be adjourned until today.
However, the NA agendas for today’s session missed constitutional amendments showing the government’s failure to achieve the number game following the multiple attempts to win the support of the JUI-F chief.
Moreover, Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui today confirmed that the government’s bid to table the Constitutional Package has been “postponed indefinitely”.
Talking to the ABN News, he said that constitutional amendments were not going to be tabled in either house of the Parliament today and would be called after full preparations to introduce a constitutional amendment.
He added that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief remained very flexible during weekend meetings. “Fazl has no issue on constitutional amendments but needs time to study details of some provisions,” Senator Irfan added.
Numbers conundrum
Weekend-long political meetings failed the government to secure the magic number required for the passage of the amendment — 224 in the case of the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate.
Talking to the media, PML-N leader and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif admitted that the government did not complete the number game, which resulted in a delay in the National Assembly session on Sunday.
However, the PML(N)-led coalition government claimed that it had completed its homework to table the amendment on Sunday.
Government to successfully pass Constitutional amendments, unlike any other legislation, need to secure a two-third majority in parliament.
Currently, the treasury benches have 212 members against the opposition’s 101 lawmakers meaning that the government needs 12 more votes to get a two-thirds majority in the lower house of the parliament to pass the proposed constitutional amendment.
The ruling coalition comprises the PML-N (110), the PPP (69), and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (22). Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) hold four each, while Pakistan Muslim League-Zia (PML-Z), Awami National Party (ANP), and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have one member each in the NA.
Meanwhile, the opposition comprises 80 MNAs of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) which are supported by PTI-backed independent lawmakers. The JUI-F has eight members in the NA which turned decisive for the government’s bid to pass legislation.
Moreover, Balochistan National Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), and Majlis-e-Wahdat-Muslimeen (MWM) have one MNA each on the opposition beaches of Natio
