Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Wednesday questioned the timing of legislation proposed by the Shehbaz Sharif government that seeks to curtail the power of the Chief Justice and said that the reform could have been brought at another time.
Alvi further said Pakistan is suffering from multiple crises and in the troubled times he wishes to play a positive role.
“It’s premature to say what I will decide as I have not seen the bill. This is a time of crisis, and I wish to play a positive role,” President Arif Alvi said in an interview with Geo News.
The statement comes as the National Assembly passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Bill 2023’s passing after it was presented by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
The proposed legislation seeks to curtail the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) powers to form a bench of his choice. The federal cabinet has approved the draft legislation for judicial reforms.
The Pakistan government aims to dilute the chief justice’s discretionary powers to three seniormost judges of the Supreme Court.
Alvi said that Supreme Court should have been involved in the reform process and added that when such changes are implemented “by force”, questions are raised on them.
“This discussion was taking place within the Supreme Court for many days so this matter should be settled by taking it (apex court) into confidence,” the president added.
The President also expressed his concerns over the Election Commission of Pakistan’s move to delay the polls in Punjab till October 8.
The president had earlier announced that Punjab province will go to polls on April 30 after orders from the Supreme Court. However, the Election Commission of Pakistan on March 23 postponed the Punjab by-elections till October 8 citing security reasons.
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