Government involves PTI in informal talks on constitutional changes

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday said informal talks had been held with the Pakistan Justice Movement (PTI) on proposed constitutional amendments, with the opposition party agreeing that the changes could bring about improvements.

In a statement, Sanaullah said: “We have had informal discussions with PTI on the proposed constitutional amendments and they too are aware that these amendments will bring about improvements.”

He further noted that the amendments on which consensus has already been reached could be passed in the Senate and National Assembly by the first week of October, but efforts are underway to reach a broader agreement on the remaining proposals.

“The fact that we do not yet have a two-thirds majority is not a failure of the government,” he added. “We want to pass these changes by consensus and make sure that all political parties are on board.”

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif echoed similar sentiments, saying that the draft of the proposed amendments had been sent to every political leader. He claimed that the PTI had no objection to the amendments but demanded that the process be delayed until December.

“They said they had no objections but simply asked that the changes be postponed until December,” Asif explained.

He also criticised the current state of judicial appointments, saying: “The process of judicial appointment is still in the hands of the judiciary, with the chambers having several lawyers as judges, some of whom sit in high courts and others in the Supreme Court. What is going on here?”

Asif condemned the situation and said: “This is a mockery of Pakistan’s judiciary.”

The government is pushing for broad agreement on the changes, which target critical issues such as judicial reforms, but with the PTI not signalling strong opposition, the focus is now shifting to ensuring all political parties can reach consensus to move forward.

While the government is confident that it can push through the agreed changes by early October, some aspects are still under discussion and further dialogue with opposition parties is expected.