Pakistan lawmakers change Constitution, cut judiciary's powers to strengthen influence

The changes were approved by a two-third majority in the lower and upper houses of the parliament separately in sessions that went past midnight

Pakistan’s ruling coalition approved a set of changes in the Constitution early Monday morning, in a show of strength in parliament by cutting the powers of the top judiciary to appoint its chief.

A parliamentary committee will now choose the chief justice from the three senior most justices of the Supreme Court, law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, said in a speech to parliament’s lower house. Under the earlier law, the senior most judge would become the chief justice without the government’s or parliament’s interference.

The changes were approved by a two-third majority in the lower and upper houses of the parliament separately in sessions that went past midnight. The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and supported by Pakistan Peoples Party, which is co-chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, met with political parties for weeks to gain support for the changes.

This “essentially signifies a stronger coalition government going forward, Marva Khan, an assistant professor at the law school of the Lahore University of Management Sciences, said. “They now have the power over judicial appointments, which was very much in the hands of the chief justice. ”

The changes are seen as a major boost to the government faced with economic challenges and a barrage of protests from the top opposition group led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which opposed the bill saying it will curb the independence of the judiciary.

Many Pakistani top politicians have been jailed for years after court rulings, which were overturned later. Opposition leader Khan has been in jail for more than a year facing multiple legal challenges.

In the past many decades, controversial orders by the judiciary have undermined democracy and strengthened military rulers, Bilawal Zardari said in a speech to the National Assembly, in support of cutting the powers of the chief justice.

Pakistan’s army has imposed four martial laws since the South Asian country won independence in 1947 and the Supreme Court legalized military rule each time. Even when elected governments are in power, the army has a firm sway over all major policies.

The parliament also limited the tenure of the chief justice to three years from the past practice of continuing to serve until the retirement age of 65, Tarar said. The changes come days before Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is due to retire.