Islamabad (Web Desk): President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday signed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law, following its approval by Parliament and upon the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Initially, the treasury benches, which hold 211 seats, needed 224 votes in the National Assembly for the bill to pass. However, their total increased to 219 with the support of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and independent lawmakers associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including Zahoor Qureshi, Aurangzeb Khichi, Usman Ali, and Mubarak Zeb, along with Chaudhry Ilyas from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).
With the president's approval, the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2024 has now been enacted.
This legislation will lead to the creation of a special parliamentary committee responsible for appointing the new Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) as outlined in Article 175A of the Constitution.
Incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa, who is scheduled to retire on October 25, will provide the committee with the names of three senior judges.
The committee will select the next CJP and send the recommendation to the Prime Minister, who will then forward it to the President for final approval.
This legislative change is expected to significantly impact Pakistan’s judicial framework moving forward.