Karachi: The Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed his belief that the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) would be Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
PPP Chairman Zardari said that in his view, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah will be the next Chief Justice. "Justice Qazi Faez Essa and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah were part of the Bench that announced the historic decision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's murder," adding that he has lot of respect for these two judges, the PPP in a press release said on its website.
Notably, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in 1979, two years after his government was toppled in a military coup by then chief of the Army Staff General Ziaul Haq.
The Dawn also quoted Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as saying that "CJP Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah are both respectable figures." He added, "Both were part of the bench for Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's case, and they should not be made controversial... CJP Isa is the first chief justice who reduced his own powers and agreed to the Practice and Procedures Act, because it was the will of parliament," according to Dawn.
The PPP chairman also expressed his belief in winning over Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the proposed legislation that allows the establishment of "constitutional courts," as envisioned by the PPP and PML-N.
Notably, before the 2024 general elections, the JUI-F chief was one of the closest allies of the PML-N and the PPP and headed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance -- which ousted PTI founder Imran Khan from office through a no-confidence motion in 2022.
The PPP also supported reducing the age for a judge at the time of appointment. The government had also proposed to increase the age of Chief Justice for three years making it 67 years. However, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) opposed it and suggested keeping the retirement age to 65, the release said.
—ANI