Re: PML[N] and PPP to give Iftikhar CJP Protocol in Punjab
this will cause some heartburn for you two lovebirds:
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Zardari showing flexibility on Iftikhar’s return**
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: T*here are growing signs that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is ready to reinstate the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and allow him to continue till June 2010.*
Sources in the Zardari House, the nerve-centre of the present regime, reveal while most of the PPP leaders including the party’s legal brains are not aware of what has been formulated in the name of the constitutional package by Law Minister Farooq Naek, there is not much to rejoice in the proposed package for the PCO judges or those who were appointed after Nov 3, 2007.
Farooq Naek, when contacted by this correspondent, said the constitutional package was not yet final and there were still a lot of ifs and buts. He, however, assured that no person-specific amendments would be included in the package, which would be presented before the cabinet for approval prior to its placement before parliament.
Refuting reports that the constitutional package had been sent to the presidency, he said there was no such thing. He said the package was not even ready. While according to the law minister, everything is open, including even the indemnity to Gen Musharraf’s Nov 3 actions, the Zardari House sources show a change of heart for the PCO judges.
In a departure from its recent stance on the PCO judges, these sources said the Naek package proposes the post-Nov 3 appointees in the superior judiciary to go through a parliamentary scrutiny for regularisation.
No such process, it is said, would be followed for the deposed judges, all of whom are to be reinstated through a resolution followed by an executive order as per Zardari House’s latest thinking.
Naek, however, said it was difficult for him to say what was going to be the final shape of the constitutional package. So far Zardari has shown little acceptability for deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But lately the PPP co-chairman is said to be willing to give Justice Iftikhar another two years in the office by introducing five-year tenure for the chief justice of Pakistan.
In the present situation, Justice Iftikhar has five more years to continue as the Chief Justice as he turns 65 in December 2013. While fixing the tenure to target Justice Iftikhar, the package also proposes to enhance the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges from the existing 65 to 67 or 68, which would enable the incumbent Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar to become the Chief Justice of Pakistan after Justice Iftikhar completed his five-year term.
The Zardari House is non-committal in case of Justice Javed Iqbal, who is senior to Justice Dogar. There are reports that Justice Javed Iqbal is willing to forego his seniority if he is reinstated.
Naek when asked, however, said no person-specific constitutional amendments would be made part of the package. According to Naek, the Supreme Judicial Council would be made effective and powerful to ensure that the accountability of judges was done promptly instead of sleeping on references and complaints.
While Naek intends to revitalise the Supreme Judicial Council, PPP Senator Latif Khosa supports the idea of constituting a commission comprising parliamentarians, members of bar councils and reputed retired judges to do the accountability of judges and entertain complaints received against them.
According to the Zardari House sources, the constitutional package would limit the suo motu powers of the chief justice to ensure that functions of the executive are not taken over by the judiciary.
For the constitution of the benches and fixing of cases, a committee of senior judges would act, replacing the existing authority of the chief justices. The salaries of the judges at all levels, it is said, would be increased manifold and there would even be night shifts of courts to ensure speedy justice.
Apart from the judiciary-related constitutional amendments, the PPP sources said the presidency would be reduced to the pre-Oct 1999 position. Not only the president’s power to dissolve the assembly and dismiss the government would be withdrawn but the National Security Council would also be abolished.
The president’s authority to make key appointments, including those of services chiefs, governors, auditor-general, chairman and members FPSC, etc, would also be shifted to the prime minister.
While Naek is preparing this package with the assistance of some top mandarins in the law ministry and after consultation with Asif Ali Zardari, surprisingly the likes of Raza Rabbani, Latif Khosa and Babar Awan, who are believed to have a better understanding of the Constitution, are not involved in this important task.
