ISLAMABAD: The government and opposition have finalized their representatives for the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), restructured to include parliamentarians following the recent 26th Constitutional Amendment.
According to sources, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari from the National Assembly (NA) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui will represent the ruling coalition in the JCP, a body tasked with nominating judges for constitutional benches in the Supreme Court and high courts.
For the opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has nominated Senator Shibli Faraz and National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub. Ayub confirmed that PTI founder Imran Khan had forwarded his name for the commission, with PTI's Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and General Secretary Salman Akram Raja informing him of the decision. Ayub noted that PTI leaders consulted with former Prime Minister Imran Khan before finalizing these names.
Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq requested nominations from both government and opposition for JCP members. The 26th Amendment introduced Article 175A, which specifies that the Chief Justice of Pakistan will head the JCP, joined by two Senators and two MNAs—one each from the government and opposition benches in both chambers.
The Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate are responsible for submitting nominations to the Senate Chairman, who then communicates them to the NA Speaker. The commission also includes three senior Supreme Court judges, the senior-most judge of the constitutional bench, the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, the Attorney General of Pakistan, a Supreme Court advocate with at least 15 years of experience (nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for two years), and a woman or non-Muslim parliamentarian nominated by the Speaker.
The amendment, spearheaded by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government with support from allies like the PPP and opposition party JUI-F, reformed the selection process for the Chief Justice of Pakistan, established a fixed term for the role, and structured constitutional benches in both houses of parliament.
