Pakistan’s 26th constitutional amendment package was passed on October 21, 2024. Supporters of the government claim things will calm down on the political front but is that really the case.
According to an editorial in Dawn, “it appeared that the new appointment process for the Supreme Court chief justice remained the most contentious of the proposed amendments, with the government getting an unprecedented say in who makes the cut. Given the long-running feuds and divisions, both within the apex court and between the branches of the state, and their impact on major political developments in the country, the changes being made could trigger a new stand-off between the legal fraternity and the government. How the lawyers’ community reacts remains to be seen.”
As the editorial noted, “fear remains that the ruling coalition may try to misuse the amendments to appoint judges of their choice to the new ‘constitutional bench’, or elevate a ‘like-minded’ judge to the chief justice’s position. Perhaps the PTI’s should have taken its responsibility, as the primary opponent of these amendments, more seriously. It should have presented alternative ideas or proposed changes to make the process ‘fairer’. Even if these proposals were rejected during the process, it could have at least claimed to have offered other options.”
Will Pakistani politics now calm down or is this is the beginning of more chaos and confusion. Only time will tell.
