PPP CEC may approve package on 24th

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Peoples Party has convened meeting of its central executive committee (CEC) here at Zardari House on Saturday morning most likely to give final approval to the draft of the much talked about constitutional package.

The meeting would be presided over by PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and besides the CEC members the chief ministers of Sindh and Balochistan, federal as well as provincial ministers would attend the meeting at Zardari House, the spokesman said.

The political analysts were associating great significance to the meeting as it would have main focus on the judges issue and the political damage being faced by the party due to delay in the restoration of the judges.

Federal Minister for Law and Justice Farooq H. Naek talking to media outside Zardari House said that the draft of the constitutional package was about to be finalized in the next day or so and the same could be tabled in Parliament before the budget session.

The sources in the party disclosed that the package contained the curtailment of Presidential powers, abolish the National Security Council and other constitutional amendments aimed at restoring the 1973 status of the constitution.

These sources further disclosed that besides the fixation of the term for Chief Justice of Pakistan the constitutional reforms package would also curtail the powers of the Chief Justice to take suo motu action on his own, and powers regarding transfer and constitution of the benches would also be taken back from the Chief Justice.

The sources close to the PPP leadership disclosed to The Nation that party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari would likely discuss the constitutional package with PML(N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif in the next day or so as both the leaders are expected to have a meeting regarding the fate of the coalition with special reference to the political and administrative changes made in the Punjab province where PPP is the junior coalition partner.

The meeting would also discuss the upcoming protest plan of the lawyers and its expected impact on the government when in Punjab the PML(N) Government had made it loud and clear that they would not stop the June 10 Long March of Lawyers, rather the PML(N) activists were asked to join the march and facilitate the lawyers movement.

The party sources revealed to The Nation that the party leadership would discuss the time frame for the restoration of the judges and the modus operandi to be adopted in this context.

The sources further disclosed that PPP was under tremendous pressure over the judges' issue, especially after the dissociation of PML(N) from Federal Cabinet the whole responsibility for the restoration of judges fell on PPP shoulders.

The PPP was in a difficult situation as on one hand their major coalition partner {PML(N)} was not easy with them and in protest they had stepped back from the coalition in Federal Government and reduced their role to just extending support to them, while on the other hand they were facing PML(N) joining hands with lawyers in their protest plan against undue delay in the restoration of the apex court judges.

The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) had also announced their support to the lawyers protest movement with their likely showdown on June 10 when the lawyers would launch Long March against the government.

The sources in the party informed that the CEC meeting of the PPP would draw their future strategy about the restoration of the judges in the light of these developments taking place and it was likely that the judges would be restored before June 10 to avoid any disruption in the country.

Some other senior party leaders were of the view that if the matter of judges could not be resolved before the budget session, at least party leadership would announce some final roadmap for the restoration of the judges to relatively calm down the lawyers.

Online adds:Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naik has said that PPP and PML(N) has agreed to an amendment in Judges Act 1997 in order to adjust the deposed and the working judges.

In an interview, he said that 1997 Judges Act provided for only 17 judges in the Supreme Court, whereas the strength of the Supreme Court judges would be increased to 27 in case the judges deposed on November 3 were to be reinstated.

In that case an amendment in the act to be brought through the Parliament will become necessary, he said, adding, that the Constitution was silent here and provide for appointment of High Court judges only under Article 193 and 197.