The government is likely to convene a session of the National Assembly on January 5 to get a legislation passed for the establishment of army-led military special courts to try militants. An official of parliament told Business Recorder on Saturday that no final date has been decided yet. "The session may be convened from January 5 to get the legislation passed but it is not final yet," he added.
The official said the Senate is already in session and the government may table a legislation in the Upper House first. "The joint session is not necessary to get the constitutional amendment passed," he said. An amendment requires a two-thirds majority to pass therefore all parliamentary parties have been taken into confidence on the initiative, the official said.
MQM Senator Tahir Mashhadi told Business Recorder that establishment of military courts is not constitutionally possible as the Supreme Court of Pakistan has already given a verdict against military courts in the Sheikh Liaqat Hussain case. "If the government comes up with a constitutional amendment to set up military courts, it can easily be challenged in the Supreme Court," he said.
The civilian government has already ceded foreign policy and ministry of interior to the armed forces, he said, and now the judiciary is also being handed over to them. "This all seems to be just an eyewash," he said, adding that the government should focus on introducing cogent reforms in the judiciary instead of struggling to set up military courts.
ANP Senator Zahid Khan linked a smooth passage of the proposed legislation to the ongoing talks between the PML-N and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to constitute a judicial commission to probe alleged rigging in the May 2013 elections. The government should first settle this issue to maintain the environment of national unity against the menace of terrorism, he said.
Khan also said that if the government fails to take care of his party's concerns in relation to judicial commission, ANP and other opposition parties will not support the legislation. "We also have reservations on last year's elections and are meeting the chief election commissioner on Tuesday to express our concerns," he said. He said that terrorists like Hakimullah Mehsud openly threatened the ANP and its workers during the election campaign but the Election Commission of Pakistan remained silent on the issue.