Main constitutional amendments in controversial new bill revealed

The proposed constitutional package formulated by the federal government, which contains fifty-four suggestions, has been revealed.

According to the constitutional amendments draft, article 63 (A) of the constitution states that a member vote against the direction of the parliamentary party will be counted, Geo News reported.

Article 17 suggests establishing a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), and Article 175 proposes changing the judge’s appointment method.

The draft proposals suggests that an eight-member National Assembly Committee will send the names of top senior judges to the Prime Minister (PM) for the position of Chief Justice (CJ) of the Federal Constitutional Court. The committee will then choose one CJ out of three recommended names, ruling out the scenario of the most senior judge as CJ.

However, the first CJ of the FC Court will be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, the President will appoint the first Constitutional Court judges after consulting with the Chief Justice.

The retirement age of CJ FC Court will be sixty-eight years, and a Supreme Court judge will be appointed for a three-year term in FCC as a judge.

The draft also read that the Suo Motu authority will be withdrawn from the High Court.