The failure of the coalition government to get the package of constitutional amendments including some of them related to the judiciary has led to great embarrassment for it and in my considered view it is a self-inflicted retreat. Since very crucial issues were involved it was imperative to have all the stakeholders on board before convening of the National Assembly and Senate session for moving the amendments and having them passed as envisaged.

The way things panned out it became clear that the government had not done its homework before convening the sessions of the legislatures and it was after convening them that the efforts were launched to get Maulan Fazlur Rehman on board contrary to the impression given by the official circles before holding the assembly session that the government had mustered required numbers to get the amendments through in both the houses. Maulana who had assumed the position of centre-stage in this saga played his cards very cleverly ostensibly trying to get the maximum out of this situation for his party.

Though the government was agreeable to some of the demands there were others to which the government could not make an immediate commitment. Maulana stuck to his guns and the whole process has been jeopardized at least for now. My considered view is that the matter has not ended for good. The government will not let the issue die down and would surely re-launch efforts to bring the Maulana on board by making some adjustments to the original draft which reportedly has not been shared with other stakeholders and coalition partners. The slip-shod manner in which the coalition government has handled this issue leaves much to be desired........

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