In a late-night meeting in Islamabad, the political committee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to completely distance itself from today’s session of the parliamentary special committee on the appointment of the new chief justice of Pakistan.
PTI leader Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed that no member of the party will attend the committee meeting, reiterating the party’s stance to stay away from the proceedings.
Furthermore, the PTI also plans to take strict disciplinary action against its members who voted in favour of the 26th constitutional amendment in parliament against party policy. The political committee also approved the cancellation of membership of all such members.
Additionally, show-cause notices will be issued to other members who remained out of touch with the party, asking them to clarify their stance on suspending links with the PTI, their relations with government members and other issues.
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The PTI has warned that the future of these members will depend on their responses to the show-cause notices, with the political committee taking final decisions on their standing within the party.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar has also stressed that the political committee has decided that no party member will participate in the special parliamentary committee meeting, adding that they would follow the decisions of the committee.
The newly formed 12-member special parliamentary committee will convene today to finalize the name of the new chief justice of Pakistan.
The meeting, scheduled for 4pm, will consider the names of the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court. The decision is supposed to be reached by a two-thirds majority and will then be forwarded to the prime minister for approval.
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The committee includes four members from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), three from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and three jointly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Sunni Ittehad Council. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) each have one representative on the committee.
The members of the committee come from both houses of parliament, including four senators and eight members of the National Assembly. PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tarar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, and Shaista Parvaiz Malik are among the committee members, alongside PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Farooq H. Naik, and Naveed Qamar.
The opposition is represented by Barrister Gohar, Ali Zafar, and Sahibzada Hamid Raza, while MQM’s Rana Ansar and JUI’s Kamran Murtaza are also part of the decision-making process.
The committee has to reach a decision by midnight today, after which the selected name will be forwarded to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who will then send it to the president for formal approval. Upon receiving presidential consent, an official notification will be issued, and Pakistan’s new chief justice will assume office.
