ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate and National Assembly committees on law and justice on Sunday met in Islamabad to discuss the proposed 27th constitutional amendment, a day after its approval from the federal cabinet.
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 bill proposes 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 draft amendment, which has been opposed by an alliance of opposition parties, was referred to the Senate standing committee on law and justice for a review after Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled in the upper house of parliament on Saturday.
"The remaining proposals, on which debate was not held, there will be a meeting on them," Farooq H. Naek, who heads the Senate panel, told reporters ahead of the meeting.
He said the joint parliamentary panel would review changes to clauses relating to the transfer of judges, immunity of president and command of the armed forces.
"An opinion will be sought on all clauses and after that, this will be finalized... Definitely, we have complete hope that we will complete it today," Naek added.
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.
On Saturday, the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), a multi-party opposition alliance, announced a nationwide protest campaign against the proposed amendment.
"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," Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a senior member of the opposition alliance, said in a post on X.
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.”
