On Monday, the ruling coalition made another attempt to win the support of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman regarding its proposed ‘Constitutional Package’ during a multi-party meeting on the Palestine issue at the Presidency.
Maulana Fazl found himself in a challenging situation as top coalition leaders surrounded him at the event, seemingly to persuade him to back the constitutional amendment. Just two days prior, he received an amended draft of the proposed changes.
Before the conference began, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held a separate meeting with the Maulana that lasted over half an hour.
Sources indicated that the coalition leaders urged the JUI-F chief to ensure his lawmakers vote for the proposed amendment in both houses of parliament, which is necessary for the coalition to secure the two-thirds majority required for passage.
With a total of 336 members, the government currently holds 214 votes and needs an additional 10 votes in the National Assembly to reach the threshold. JUI-F has eight votes in the National Assembly and five in the Senate. Even if they manage to persuade the Maulana, they would still be a few votes short.
Media reports also suggested that Mr. Sharif, who later went to Murree, held a one-on-one meeting with Maulana Fazl, which government sources described as significant, although there was no official confirmation.
In the meantime, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui told Dawn that PPP Chairman Bilawal had presented an amended draft of the constitutional package to Maulana Fazl, which was prepared based on his demands and recommendations. “We believe Maulana will now have no objections as the draft was revised according to his requests,” the senator added.
