PM Seeks PPP Support for 27th Constitutional Amendment: Bilawal

News Desk 

Islamabad: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has sought his party’s support for the 27th Constitutional Amendment, which proposes the establishment of a Constitutional Court and several other key changes to the Constitution.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Bilawal said that a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) delegation led by PM Shehbaz met President Asif Ali Zardari and “requested” PPP’s backing for the amendment.

According to Bilawal, the proposed 27th Amendment includes significant constitutional tweaks, including changes to Article 243—which pertains to the supreme command of the armed forces—as well as the introduction of executive magistrates, provisions for the transfer of judges, and the removal of protections related to provincial shares in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

He added that the proposals also aim to bring education and population planning back under the federal government’s control and resolve the longstanding deadlock over appointments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The PPP chairman said that the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) will meet on November 6, following President Zardari’s return from Doha, to discuss the proposed amendment and finalize the party’s stance.

It may be recalled that the federal government is mulling the 27th Amendment a year after the 26th Constitutional Amendment was passed, which set a three-year tenure for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and introduced constitutional benches at the Supreme Court and high courts.

The 26th Amendment also mandated the eradication of Riba (interest-based banking) in the country by January 1, 2028.

Key highlights of the 26th Constitutional Amendment (2024):

• Fixed the CJP’s tenure at three years.
• Established constitutional benches at the Supreme Court and high courts.
• Designated the senior-most judge of each bench as presiding officer.
• Formed a parliamentary committee to nominate the new CJP from a panel of three senior judges.
• Required the Prime Minister to forward the committee’s recommendation to the President for approval.
• Empowered the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) to appoint judges and monitor their performance.
• Set a deadline of January 1, 2028, for the complete elimination of interest-based banking in Pakistan.