Takiyuddin said the opposition was informed by the government that a bipartisan committee would be set up to deliberate on the bill, which was expected to be put to vote today.

He added that a minister might be appointed to chair the committee.

“We have been asked to submit names (to join the committee), and we have done so,” he told a press conference in Parliament.

“Our position as the opposition bloc, as we have stated before, is that in principle we do not reject this amendment. However, we propose several aspects for improvement.

“Sometimes these improvements are necessary to ensure that the law is good and cannot be challenged,” he said.

Takiyuddin said the government could proceed with the bill’s second reading and debates before postponing the vote to the next parliamentary meeting, or simply postpone it.

The bill seeks to amend six articles of the Federal Constitution and introduce two new provisions to establish the public prosecutor as a separate constitutional office, transferring prosecutorial powers currently vested in the attorney-general to an independent officeholder.

Last week, 10 PKR MPs proposed that the bill be referred to a parliamentary special select committee for detailed scrutiny, saying the constitutional amendment should not be rushed given its far-reaching implications.

They said Parliament should play a role in appointing the public prosecutor while the bill, in its current form, concentrates power in the prime minister and the Judicial and Legal Service Commission.

The MPs also said their support for the bill would depend on whether the government takes their proposals into account.