Islamabad, October 22,2024- The Sunni Ittehad Council has refused to participate in the meeting of the special parliamentary committee established for the appointment of judges. According to the National Assembly Secretariat, the council members made a definitive decision not to attend the committee meeting and communicated this decision during a meeting in the Speaker’s chamber.
The committee formed a subcommittee comprising Ahsan Iqbal, Raina Ansar, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and Kamran Murtaza. The subcommittee has been tasked with meeting members of the Sunni Ittehad Council to persuade them to attend the meeting.
The subcommittee requested a meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, which was held in the Speaker’s chamber between the subcommittee and the members of the Sunni Ittehad Council. Barrister Gohar attended the meeting in the Speaker’s chamber.
Barrister Gohar stated that their political committee has decided not to participate in the committee meetings.
It is noteworthy that the meeting of the 12-member special parliamentary committee for the appointment of the new Chief Justice of Pakistan was postponed until 8:30 PM. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar informed the media that the first meeting of the committee regarding the nomination of the Chief Justice Pakistan had taken place, which would reconvene at 8:30 PM.
The special parliamentary committee’s closed-door meeting was held in Committee Room 5 of the Parliament House. Despite the boycott of the meeting, seats remained available for three members of the Sunni Ittehad Council. Seats were designated for Ali Zafar, Barrister Gohar, and Hamid Raza, and nameplates for all 12 members were also displayed.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Farooq H. Naek, Kamran Murtaza, Raina Ansar, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaista Pervaiz Malik, Azam Nazeer Tarar, and Khawaja Asif were also present at the committee meeting.
It is anticipated that approval for the appointment of the new Chief Justice of Pakistan will be granted during today’s meeting, with the three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court—Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Yahya Afridi—under consideration.
