ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday the country’s judiciary had the right to interpret its constitution but it was solely the prerogative of parliament to write the supreme national document.
The prime minister issued the statement while addressing a ceremony in the federal capital to launch a mobile app providing a digital version of Pakistan’s 1973 constitution.
He made the observation after parliament passed the Supreme Court (Practices and Procedure) Bill, 2023, to curtail the powers of the country’s top judge amid an ongoing tussle between the government and the judiciary over elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
While the bill is yet to become a law, the Supreme Court issued an interim order about it on April 13 and stayed its implementation until further notice.
“The constitution has been framed by parliament and while the judiciary has the right to interpret it, it cannot rewrite it,” the prime minister said during the ceremony. “It is the sole prerogative of parliament, not only in Pakistan but across the world.”
He maintained there was no example in the world where a court had issued a stay order over a bill that had not been approved or implemented.
“Therefore, parliament will now exercise its constitutional and legal right to [stand up for the bill],” he added.
The prime minister maintained that while the constitution of Pakistan had been violated several times in the country’s history, it could still not be rewritten under any circumstances by any entity other than parliament.
“We, therefore, expect the judiciary, bench, and bars, to be the protectors of the constitution,” he said.
