Hafiz Naeem calls lifetime immunity for president unconstitutional, ambush on justice system

LAHORE: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has strongly criticized the proposed lifetime immunity for the president under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, calling it unconstitutional and an attack on the justice system.

In a statement on X, Hafiz Naeem said that granting lifetime immunity to the president is “wrong and shameful” from constitutional, democratic, social, and political perspectives. He termed the proposal “an ambush on the justice system.”

He strongly criticised the PPP and the former opposition coalition, PDM.

“From running political parties based on wills, inheritance, and feudal control, to buying and selling parliamentarians, seizing mayorships, and advancing politics through Form 47”, he said. “After remaining unaccountable to the people, they now wish to remain unaccountable to the courts as well,” he remarked.

Calling the details of the 27th Amendment “horrific,” Hafiz Naeem urged the opposition to categorically reject the proposal.

Earlier, Naeemur Rehman had categorically rejected the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, calling it a “mockery of the law,” ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference at the JI Karachi headquarters, Idara Noor-e-Haq, on Tuesday, Naeem declared, “We did not accept the 26th Amendment, and we will not accept the 27th either.”

He criticised political parties, including PTI and JUI, for supporting the 26th Amendment in the past, which, according to him, ultimately served the government’s interests.

Naeem urged the opposition to outrightly reject the 27th Constitutional Amendment, describing it as an assault on the Constitution.

He emphasized that the Constitution is a “unanimous document” and should not be altered for the convenience of the government.