Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked his party to support the 27th Constitutional Amendment, which proposes establishing a Constitutional Court.
In a post on X, Bilawal said a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) delegation, led by PM Shehbaz, met President Asif Ali Zardari and sought PPP’s backing for the amendment.
Bilawal said that as per the proposals, the tweak also seeks to amend Article 243 — which pertains to the supreme command of the armed forces — as well as several other key constitutional adjustments.
Article 243 of the Constitution of Pakistan vests the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces in the president and reads, “The President shall, on advice of the Prime Minister, appoint Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of the Army Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, and Chief of the Air Staff.
The PPP chairman said that the proposals also include 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.
The amendment also seeks to return education and population planning to the federal domain and to resolve the longstanding deadlock over appointments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Bilawal said that the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) will convene on November 6 upon President Zardari’s return from Doha to deliberate on the proposed amendment and decide the party’s stance.
It may be noted here that the federal government is considering the 27th Constitutional Amendment a year after the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment that paved the way for the creation of constitutional benches and fixed a three-year term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).
The 26th Constitutional Amendment also established a deadline of January 1, 2028, for the end of the practice of Riba (interest-based banking) in the country.
