ISLAMABAD: Ruling coalition-backed 26th Constitutional Amendments sailed through parliament with a two-thirds majority, with support from several PTI-backed lawmakers, who boycotted the voting.
The amendment tabled by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar introduces significant reforms to the appointment process and tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the formation of new constitutional benches in the Supreme Court and high courts.
The bill sailed through the Senate with a two-thirds majority — 65 in favor — and was presented in the National Assembly, where a total of 225 lawmakers cast their in favor, while 12 legislators voted against it.
Treasury benches secured support from JUI-F’s eight members while six independent and PTI-backed candidates — Usman Ali, Aurangzeb Khichi, Mubarak Zeb, and Zahoor Qureshi — voted in favor of amendments along with PML-Q’s Chaudhry Ilyas.
In the Senate, PTI senators Dr Zarqa Taimoor and Faisal Saleem voted in favor of the 26th Constitutional Amendments.
Taking on X, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) mentioning the names of aforementioned party lawmakers said, “They took the vote from the people in the name of Imran Khan and sold their vote to the same mafia against whom the people gave him a mandate!
عمران خان کے نام پر عوام سے ووٹ لیا اور اپنا ووٹ اسی مافیا کو بیچ دیا جس کے خلاف عوام نے انہیں مینڈیٹ دیا تھا!
ان ضمیر فروشوں کا شمار پاکستان کی تاریخ کے سیاہ ترین کرداروں میں ہو گا!#آئین_کا_جنازہ #غیر_آئینی_ترامیم_نامنظور pic.twitter.com/Tr4kFwl12S— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 21, 2024
“These traitors will be counted among the darkest characters in the history of Pakistan,” PTI wrote.
Earlier, during the NA session, the leader of the opposition Omar Ayub said that missing PTI lawmakers have now turned up here in the house, sitting on treasury benches.
He added that the following missing MNAs have been brought into the house to vote for a government-backed amendment. PTI leader said Riaz Fatyana, Zain Qureshi, Miqdad Husain, and Aslam Ghuman were sitting in the government lobby.
The bill passed by the National Assembly consisted of 27 classes. After the passage of the first clause, the opposition members, primarily PTI MNAs walked out of the assembly.
The remaining clauses of the bill were passed smoothly and swiftly without any resistance from opposition members.
In a video message on Monday, PTI senior leader Asad Qaiser said PTI-backed independent candidates, who supported the contentious constitutional amendment, betrayed the party and its founder, Imran Khan.
He said, “Those who voted in favor of the bill have committed treachery against the party and its founder, adding that the government ignored parliamentary rules and procedures in pushing through the bill.
