Pakistan Lawmakers Change Constitution to Strengthen Influence

Pakistan’s ruling coalition approved a set of changes in the Constitution early Monday morning, in a show of strength in parliament by cutting the powers of the top judiciary to appoint its chief.

A parliamentary committee will now choose the chief justice from the three senior most justices of the Supreme Court, law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, said in a speech to parliament’s lower house. Under the earlier law, the senior most judge would become the chief justice without the government’s or parliament’s interference.