ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has appointed Justice Yahya Afridi as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan, succeeding the current Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa.
Justice Afridi’s three-year term will begin on October 26, as per a statement from the Aiwan-e-Sadr released on Wednesday morning. The appointment was made in accordance with Articles 175A(3), 177, and 179 of the Constitution, and he is set to be sworn in on October 26.
The nomination of Justice Afridi was made by the Special Parliamentary Committee, formed for the first time in the country’s history to select the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). The committee, with a two-thirds majority, made the recommendation on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif forwarded the nomination to President Zardari, who approved it.
This new process for appointing the CJP was introduced under the controversial 26th Constitutional Amendment, which requires the CJP to be “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from among the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court,” with a two-thirds majority.
The committee comprises representatives from all political parties in parliament, including senators and members of the National Assembly from both the government and opposition benches. However, the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chose not to participate in the committee meetings.
Last week, the ruling coalition successfully passed the judicial reforms with a two-thirds majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate, securing 225 and 65 votes, respectively. The PTI strongly opposed the reforms, calling them an attack on the judiciary’s independence and vowing to repeal the legislation if it returns to power.
PTI has also rejected Justice Afridi’s nomination as the next Chief Justice and announced plans to launch a protest against the Special Parliamentary Committee’s decision.
