Opposition skips joint committee meeting on Law and Justice

ISLAMABAD: The joint Senate and National Assembly Committee on Law and Justice is currently in session, while opposition parties have announced a boycott of the meeting.

The committee session is being chaired by Farooq H. Naik and Mahmood Bashir Virk, with participation from Senators Tahir Khalil Sandhu, Hidayatullah Khan, Shahadat Awan, Zamir Hussain Ghumro, and members Ali Haider Gilani, Syra Afzal Tarar, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Syed Naveed Qamar, and Abrar Shah. The Secretary of the Ministry of Law and Justice Raja Naeem Akbar and other officials are also present.

The committee is tasked with reviewing and approving the clauses of the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment. After deliberation, each clause will be voted on, and the majority view will guide the committee’s decisions, which will subsequently be presented to the Parliament.

Ahead of the meeting, Senator Farooq H. Naik told the media that all parties will have the opportunity to give their input, and the committee aims to finalize the points of the constitutional amendment by 5 pm today.

Meanwhile, opposition parties, including PTI, JUI, PKMAP, and MWM, have boycotted the session. JUI spokesperson Aslam Ghauri criticized the removal of JUI member Senator Kamran Murtaza from the committee, calling it “a severe act of dictatorship”.

He added that the committee belongs to Parliament and should not be treated as the property of any single party, accusing the government of undermining democratic processes in the name of democracy.