Pakistan passes amendment empowering parliament to pick top judge

The Supreme Court’s chief justice will now be selected by a parliamentary committee and have a fixed term of three years.

Pakistan’s government has approved new constitutional amendments to give legislators more power in appointing the top judge – a move seen as sidelining the courts that have allegedly favoured jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill was passed early on Monday in what marked the culmination of months of negotiations followed by an hours-long overnight session of the National Assembly, as the lower house of parliament is known in the country.

The amendment says the Supreme Court’s chief justice will now be selected by a parliamentary committee and have a fixed term of three years.

Since the general elections in February this year were marred by rigging allegations, relations have soured between the government and the top court as multiple court rulings have backed Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

The amendment came just days before Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa is due to retire. Under the previous law, Isa would have been replaced by the next most senior judge, Mansoor Ali Shah, who has consistently issued verdicts deemed favourable to Khan and the PTI.

New groups of senior judges will also be created to weigh exclusively on constitutional issues – an issue that was at the core of recent disputes between the government and the PTI in the Supreme Court.

As the bill passed in a predawn sitting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was “a historic day… affirming the supremacy of Parliament”.

“Today’s amendment, the 26th, is not just an amendment, but an example of national solidarity and consensus. A new sun will rise, emanating across the nation,” Sharif said.

His Muslim League-Nawaz party gathered a two-thirds majority in favour of the bill with the backing of its longtime rival-turned-partner, the Pakistan People’s Party. Some rebel PTI MPs also voted for the reform.

‘Suffocating a free judiciary’

But PTI leaders, the largest bloc in parliament, have hit back at the amendments.

“These amendments are akin to suffocating a free judiciary. They do not represent the people of Pakistan,” said PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. “A government formed through rigging cannot amend the constitution.”

Analyst Bilal Gilani, who heads Pakistan’s leading polling agency, said the amendments have some “wins” – including bringing balance to activism by the judiciary. “A more sinister side of this amendment creates a judiciary that is more pliant with the concerns of the government,” he added.

On Monday, the country’s Dawn newspaper predicted the law could heighten the confrontation between branches of the state. “Given the long-running feuds and divisions… the changes being made could trigger a new standoff between the legal fraternity and the government,” read an editorial.

In July, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that the Election Commission of Pakistan should not have sidelined Khan’s party in the election campaign by forcing its MPs to stand as independents over a technical violation. It also gave the PTI a number of non-elected seats for women and religious minorities, which would give Khan’s party the largest number of parliamentarians.

Other courts have also rolled back Khan’s personal convictions or sentences. Earlier this year, six Pakistan High Court judges accused the nation’s intelligence agency of intimidating and coercing them over “politically consequential” cases.

Khan remains wildly popular and continues to challenge the establishment with frequent protests, despite languishing in jail on charges he says are politically motivated. He was removed from power in a no-confidence vote in 2022 after analysts say he fell out of favour with the generals.

He waged a defiant campaign against the military – a major red line in a country that has seen decades of army rule – which was met with a severe crackdown against his leadership and supporters.