ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), a multi-party opposition alliance, on Saturday announced a nationwide protest campaign against the proposed 27th constitutional amendment, hours after the government tabled it in the upper house of parliament.
The amendment proposes creating a new constitutional court, restoring executive magistrates, revising the distribution of federal revenue among provinces under the National Finance Commission (NFC) and making changes to how senior judges and military leadership appointments are structured within the constitution.
The government held consultations with coalition parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), in a bid to secure the two-thirds parliamentary majority required for constitutional changes and presented the bill in Senate after approval from the cabinet.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a senior member of the opposition alliance, accused the government of "shaking the foundations of the constitution," saying they had no choice but to launch a protest movement after the government's tabling of the amendment in parliament.
"The constitution is being tampered with. Our own parliament is attacking the constitution, so we have no other option, we will go to the people," he said in a post on X.
It has been proposed in the bill that the transfer of judges be handled by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, titles given to national heroes should remain with them for lifetime, and provincial cabinet threshold of 11 percent be increased to 13 percent for smaller provinces like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the main opposition party led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, said the amendment would harm democracy, judicial independence and civilian supremacy in the country.
"The new constitutional draft contained not a single amendment in the public interest; rather, it is entirely person-specific and self-serving, aimed at centralizing power and empowering the elite," PTI's Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said in a sharply worded statement.
"Pakistan must put an end to the culture of arbitrary extensions and raising retirement ages."
But State Minister for Law Aqeel Malik said the approval of the 27th constitutional amendment by the federal cabinet marks a “significant step toward strengthening the supremacy of parliament.”
“This amendment not only symbolizes the strengthening of democratic institutions but also fulfills the long-cherished vision of establishing a constitutional court,” he said.
“This development represents a positive and historic milestone toward promoting constitutional balance, transparent accountability, and institutional harmony across the country.”
In Pakistan, constitutional amendments have historically been used to reshape the balance of power between the legislature, judiciary and provinces.
The proposed 27th amendment follows the 26th amendment passed in October 2024, which gave parliament a role in appointing the chief justice and created a new panel of senior judges to hear constitutional cases, measures critics said weakened judicial independence.
Pakistan’s constitution, adopted in 1973, has been amended more than two dozen times, often reflecting shifts in authority among civilian governments and the military. Provisions governing the NFC award are among the most politically sensitive because they underpin the country’s federal structure and provincial autonomy.
