Imran completely back Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as new CJP

ISLAMABAD: Founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday said his party is completely backing Supreme Court’s Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to become the country’s next chief Justice.

Imran Khan says, “the appointment of the next chief justice should be announced soon. Our party completely back Justice Mansoor Ali Shah,” he said while speaking to journalists informally in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail here today.

Imran Khan, who was ousted from power through parliamentary vote in April 2022, said that proposed constitutional court will end the power of Supreme Court, adding that the “government is bent upon on destroying the judiciary”.

He said that the PDM government want their own judges to cover the 2024 election fraud. PTI founder claimed that the government does not want the PTI to rise at any cost.

The government pushed the proposed constitutional package amid speculation about a potential extension in the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire in October this year, following the PTI’s request last month for the early issuance of a notification regarding the appointment of the next top judge.

The ousted premier made these comments in light of the ongoing saga surrounding the constitutional package chalked out by the ruling coalition which allegedly provisions regarding extension in the retirement ages of the high court and Supreme Court judges.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), despite having the support of its allies such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and others, had postponed introducing the constitutional amendments in the parliament despite claiming to have secured the “magic number” earlier.

The deferment came after Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) refused to lend its support to the ruling coalition, short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate as the said legislation, aimed at amending the Constitution, requires a two-thirds majority in both houses.

In the National Assembly, the ruling coalition needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendments, whereas in the Senate the number stands at 64. Currently, as per reports, treasury benches have 211 members against the opposition’s 101 MNAs.

Although JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has so far remained seemingly unwilling to back the amendments, which he, in fact, has termed a bid to protect the coalition government,

Adviser on Political and Public Affairs and PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah had hinted at evolving “minimum consensus” among political parties on controversial judiciary-centric constitutional amendments that also included the proposal to establish constitutional court — which PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has said would be introduced “come what may”.

The PM’s aide also said that the consultation process with other political parties on the judicial package has not stalled as the Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led PPP and Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led JUI-F were working on their draft amendments.

He added that the drafts could be discussed in the forthcoming consultative sessions after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s return from the United States and opined that the government would table the constitutional package after developing a “minimum consensus”.

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