Backdoor to power shut after constitutional tweaks, says Rana Sanaullah

"After the constitutional amendment, Pakistan will not be harmed by these sneaky ways," says PM adviser

LAHORE: Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister's adviser on political affairs, has said that the recently passed constitutional amendment has shut the backdoor to power.

"After the [26th] constitutional amendment, Pakistan will not be harmed by these sneaky ways," he said, while addressing a presser in Lahore after a meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), The News reported on Sunday.

Praising the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the politician said that the country had dodged an economic crisis due to the premier's tireless efforts.

The Shehbaz Sharif-led government, with the assistance of allies including the PPP, passed the contentious legislation in both the lower and upper houses of parliament, which changed the procedure for the appointment of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP), fixed the post's tenure, and formed constitutional benches.

Following the legal reforms, the seniority rule for the CJP appointment was also removed from the Constitution. After the 26th Amendment, the selection of the next chief justice will no longer be based solely on seniority, and instead, the choice will be made among the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court.

A 12-member special parliamentary committee will decide on the chief justice’s nomination with a two-thirds majority. The committee will then forward the selected name to the prime minister, who will send the nomination to the president for final approval.

The legislation was strongly opposed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which announced challenging its passage in the SC, calling it an "attack" on the country’s judicial system.

Reacting to the announcement earlier this week, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar asserted that an amendment, carried out by parliament with a two-thirds majority, cannot be challenged in any court.

The federal minister added that Article 239 of the Constitution of Pakistan empowers the parliament to amend the Constitution or carry out legislation with a two-thirds majority.

“Its clause 5 clearly states that the amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan cannot be challenged in any court,” Tarar said.

Clause 5 of Article 239 states, “No amendment of the Constitution shall be called in question in any court on any ground whatsoever.”

He also cited clause 6 which states, “For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that there is no limitation whatever on the power of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) to amend any of the provisions of the Constitution.”

Meanwhile, during his press conference in Punjab's capital city on Saturday, the PM's adviser also commented on the recent release of PTI founder Imran Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, and his two sisters — Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan.

Sanaullah said that the release of Imran's wife and sisters was not the result of any deal.

Commenting on Justice Yahya Afridi's oath of the Chief Justice of Pakistan office, the PML-N veteran said that parliament had made an appropriate choice in selecting the country's top judge.

Regretting Justice Mansoor Ali Shah's use of language in his letter, he suggested that the senior puisne judge could have simply left for Umrah, as that would have been sufficient.