Pakistan approved changes to the constitution on Monday, which included empowering parliament to pick the Supreme Court's chief justice, drawing criticism from opposition parties who said it was an attempt to subvert the judiciary.

The constitutional changes were approved in an extraordinary session of parliament which was assembled on Sunday, a public holiday, and ran all night, concluding close to dawn on Monday. "The Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be nominated by the Special Parliamentary

Pakistan's government on Monday narrowly passed a package of constitutional amendments it said would stop the country's courts from issuing rulings that "interfere in parliament".