Govt tables 27th Amendment bill in NA today after Senate green-lights key reforms

• Law minister scheduled to table bill in lower house.
• 59-clause amendment seeks to overhaul military, judicial structures.
• Senate passes 27th Amendment Bill amid opposition walkout. 
  

The federal government is set to present the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill in the National Assembly today (Tuesday), a day after it sailed through the Senate with the required two-thirds majority amid the opposition’s walkout and protest.

According to the NA’s agenda issued late Monday night, the session will begin at 11am. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar is scheduled to table the bill in the lower house for approval.

The 59-clause amendment, passed by the Senate on Monday, seeks to overhaul the country’s military and judicial structures. It was moved by Law Minister Tarar and secured 64 votes in the 96-member House, with no votes against it as opposition lawmakers boycotted the proceedings and tore up their copies in protest.

Apart from treasury members, ANP’s senators, PTI-backed Saifullah Abro, and JUI-F’s Ahmed Khan also supported the bill. In a surprise move, Abro refrained from joining the protest and later announced his resignation from the Senate.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar hailed the bill’s passage as a “historic moment”, recalling that many of its key provisions, including the creation of a Constitutional Court, were envisaged in the Charter of Democracy signed by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in 2006.

Dar said the amendment also amends Article 243, affirming that the title of Field Marshal had never previously existed in the Constitution. He praised Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir as a national hero following Pakistan’s recent conflict with India, and assured lawmakers that the seniority of the chief justice and other judges would remain unaffected by the proposed reforms.

He added that the constitutional changes were aimed at strengthening judicial independence and improving governance, in line with the government’s earlier commitment to introduce the bill first in the upper house.

Highlights of new amendment

• Chief of Army Staff to assume role as Chief of Defence Forces
• Field Marshal, Marshal of Air Force, Admiral of Fleet titles to remain for life
• Federal Constitutional Court to be established
• Equal provincial representation approved in Federal Constitutional Court
• FCC empowered to take suo motu notice upon petitions
• Islamabad High Court to have one judge on FCC bench
• President and prime minister to play a key role in judicial appointments
• Supreme Court powers to be reduced, with some authorities shifted to the new court
• Presidential immunity limited if president assumes any public office after tenure
• Judges must serve five years in high court for eligibility of Constitutional Court
• Judicial Commission to decide transfer of high court judges
• Objections on transfers to be reviewed by Supreme Judicial Council