Islamabad [Pakistan], February 19 : A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)- backed lawyers' convention on Tuesday rejected the 26th constitutional amendment. The convention called for a full court of the Supreme Court instead of the newly elevated judges to hear the challenges against the amendment, Dawn reported.
A declaration issued after the convention hosted by the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) said, "It is demanded that the Supreme Court fix all petitions against the 26th amendment without a delay before a full court bench of the judges existing prior to the amendment."
In his remarks at the lawyers' convention, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said, "We were informed that the 26th amendment was coming, but no one had the draft." He called the judiciary the amendment's target.
He claimed that the opposition members were coerced during the voting process, calling the amendment a stain on legislation and the parliament that defaced the Constitution. Khan said, "Everyone knows how this amendment was passed, according to Dawn report.
Gohar Ali Khan said that a parallel judiciary was created within the judiciary through a 'controversial' amendment. He said that PTI will continue its struggle against unconstitutional acts as the judiciary in Pakistan needed significant reforms. He said that the amendment paved the way for the executive to interfere in the judiciary.
PTI chairman called for the withdrawal of such legislation and urged the Supreme Court to hear constitutional petitions against the amendment immediately. He said the petitions should be heard by judges who were there before the amendment was introduced. He expressed PTI's support for the lawyers' movement against the 26th amendment.
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai said they want a Pakistan where the Constitution remains supreme and those who secure a win in the polls should not be unfairly defeated.
He claimed that the seat on which Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was sitting belonged to somebody else. He said that Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Pakhtuns must have a share in the government if Pakistan wants to progress, Dawn reported.
PTI Senator Hamid Khan, who heads a major group of lawyers, said Pakistan had reached a crucial turning point in its history. He said, "This is a time for strugglethe military must return to the barracks." He called for returning the mandate of the February 8 elections to the people.
Hamid Khan said "another robbery" was committed in the form of the 26th Amendment after the February 8 elections held last year. He claimed, "You have turned the administration and the judiciary into puppets." He asserted that the lawyers' movement for the Constitution's supremacy will not stop now.
PTI Senator Hamid Khan condemned the new amendments to Peca, describing them as a black law designed to control journalists. Dawn reported that he requested the apex court immediately hear the petitions against the 26th Amendment.
Former Supreme Court Bar Association Presidents Ali Ahmad Kurd and Abid Zuberi, and former vice president of Lahore High Court Bar Association Rabbiya Bajwa also expressed their views at the convention.
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