Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assigned National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq the crucial responsibility of developing consensus among political parties for the 27th Constitutional Amendment, well-informed sources told on Wednesday.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is now seeking a broad political agreement on the proposed constitutional tweaks for establishing a Constitutional Court and making certain changes to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
This tweak also sought to amend Article 243 – which pertains to the supreme command of the armed forces – as well as several other key constitutional adjustments, according to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Other proposals included the introduction of executive magistrates, provisions for the transfer of judges, and the removal of protections related to provincial shares in the NFC Award.
The sources said that the NA speaker has convened a meeting of all parliamentary leaders to discuss the proposed amendment and seek broad political agreement, which will be held in the Speaker’s Lounge at the Parliament House.
They said that invitations have been extended to parliamentary leaders of all major political parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), as well as the chief whips of coalition partners.
The sources added that the participants will be briefed on the contours of the constitutional amendment, and a joint strategy for its passage will be discussed. “If consensus is not reached, the government will rely on its own numbers in the National Assembly,” they added.
They further revealed that Sadiq is also expected to hold one-on-one meetings with parliamentary leaders in his chamber before the joint sitting.
Meanwhile, the ruling party instructed all its lawmakers and coalition parties’ members to ensure their presence in Islamabad ahead of the key session.
Separately, Senator Faisal Vawda met JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad and said their discussion centred on the clauses of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. “We often meet, and I always leave with positivity,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Vawda said the JUI-F chief would make his own decision on the amendment. “Maulana Fazlur Rehman is a strong politician who has always stood by Pakistan,” he remarked, adding that the discussion was about national stability, not numbers.
The senator claimed that they have “more than sufficient numbers” for passing the fresh tweaks.
He stressed that Pakistan’s survival and security came first. Vawda clarified that the 18th Amendment was not being rolled back, only reviewed through mutual consultation.
Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Wednesday demanded that local governments (LGs) be given autonomy in the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment.
MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar presented his party’s demand while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, alongside party leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
Sattar asserted that after provincial autonomy had been granted under the 18th Amendment of 2010, the “next step naturally is local autonomy, so it’s turn must come”.
“The important thing that we also said at the time of the 26th Amendment, that our constitutional amendment package be included,” he said, referring to its agreement with the PML-N to empower local governments.
“But it did not happen,” Sattar lamented, calling for the matter to be included in the 27th Amendment.
Moreover, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said on Wednesday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would strongly oppose the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, terming it an attempt to undermine provincial autonomy guaranteed under the 18th Amendment.
“Any move weakening the democratic mandate of the provinces will be resisted,” the provincial chief executive said while speaking to journalists outside Parliament House after attending a parliamentary party meeting.
Separately, PTI lawmakers in the National Assembly submitted a resolution demanding that the KP chief minister be allowed to meet the PTI founder, currently imprisoned in Adiala Jail.
The resolution – bearing signatures of 34 PTI MNAs – noted that the founder of PTI is the head of Pakistan’s largest political party and that consultation with him is a democratic requirement.
The assembly members support a meeting between the KP chief minister and the PTI founder, read the text. “This meeting is part of constitutional and democratic consultation, and permission should be granted for the meeting at Adiala Jail.”
Afridi said he had made repeated attempts to secure a meeting.