Judiciary cannot re-write Constitution, says Shehbaz Sharif

Amid an ongoing Constitutional and political crisis in the country, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the judiciary to reassess its role and become the protector of Constitution, media reports said. “It does not happen anywhere in the world that a court issues a stay order against a legislation which is still in the making,” Sharif said while addressing the launch ceremony of the 1973 Constitution mobile application, Geo News reported. He said that it is time for the state institutions to get united for upholding the Constitution in order to keep the national interest supreme, the report said. Sharif is of the view that Pakistan is currently at the crossroads of Constitutional challenges, which require demonstration by the state institutions. The Constitution has its roots in the Parliament and as per a globally recognised concept, the judiciary can only interpret the law, but cannot re-write it, the premier said, Geo News reported. Sharif said the 1973 Constitution was the result of the hard toil of politicians from all backgrounds, who arrived at a consensus in the formulation of the sacred document. He recalled that veteran politicians of their times, including former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mufti Mehmood, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, and several other political leaders, rose above their political differences to write a Constitution that acted as a binding force for the federation. Sharif said although politicians made mistakes in the past, it is time to rectify them. “We have indeed learnt a lesson and we are making efforts to take Pakistan out of these problems,” Sharif said, Geo News reported.