Meeting at PM House to finalize strategy ahead of National Assembly vote on 14 November
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will today meet the leaders of the allied parties at the Prime Minister’s House to discuss the 27th constitutional amendment that takes coalition partners into confidence during a key consultation session scheduled for tonight.
A decision has been made to have the 27th constitutional amendment approved by the National Assembly on 14 November. In this connection, the prime minister will hold consultations with the allied parties, and all foreign visits by ministers and members of parliament have been cancelled.
In addition, the Speaker of the National Assembly has consulted with all the parties’ parliamentary leaders, and the agenda and timetable for the General Assembly have been approved. However, the parliamentary leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not attend the meeting.
Read: 27th Amendment – What we know so far
Yesterday, opposition lawmakers came out with all guns blazing in the National Assembly against the proposed 27th constitutional amendment, which has sparked a political storm in the country at a time when the Supreme Court is already seized with petitions challenging the 26th amendment.
Speaking on the floor of the lower house of parliament, PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan condemned the new proposed amendments to the 1973 constitution as “an attack on the house” and vowed that his party would continue to raise its voice against the move.
Recalling the events surrounding the passage of the 26th Amendment, Gohar said the PTI along with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had made “huge efforts” to block it.
“Perhaps this time we will not have to visit his (Fazl’s) residence or sit with you in a committee,” he said, directly addressing the Deputy Speaker who was presiding over the session. “We will raise our voice against it as it is an attack on Parliament,” he added.
Read more: Vawda meets Fazl as the 27th Amendment talks gather pace
“Whenever there is a constitutional amendment anywhere in the world, it is done through consensus and according to the needs of the country,” the PTI chairman said.
What we know so far
The capital is abuzz with political frenzy as the much talked about 27th constitutional amendment is set to be tabled in the Senate on Friday.
With the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) set to raise the matter during its executive committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow, two questions seem to be dominating all circles: What will the final draft of the amendment contain and can it realistically win passage given the fragile coalition that supports the current parliamentary set-up?
Deliberation on the 27th Amendment began shortly after the 26thth The constitutional amendment was adopted in October 2024. Yet until now, no one has been able to say for sure what it would entail. On Monday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari gave the first indication of what it will consist of in a post on X.
Based on Bilawal’s tweet, the 27th Amendment aims to further reform the judiciary building on the changes introduced in the 26th Amendment. It proposes the creation of federal constitutional courts in the provinces, the restoration of executive magistrates and the transfer of powers to enable judges to move between jurisdictions.
Bilawal revealed that a delegation of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), led by Prime Minister Shehbaz, met with President Asif Ali Zardari and himself to seek PPP’s support to pass the amendment.
Much now depends on the outcome of the PPP’s central executive committee meeting, which is expected to decide the party’s final position.
Read also: Shehbaz led PML-N delegation approached PPP to support 27th amendment: Bilawal
The Senate
Currently, 64 votes are required in the Senate to pass any constitutional amendment. The PPP has 26 seats, making it the most dominant party on the government benches, while the PML-N has 20.
Among the coalition partners, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has four members and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has three. Independent senators on the government side include Abdul Karim, Abdul Qadir, Mohsin Naqvi, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Asad Qasim and Faisal Vawda.
On the opposition benches, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remains the largest party with 14 seats, with a newly elected senator expected to take oath soon. Awami National Party (ANP) has three seats while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) has seven. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) each have one senator.
PTI has unequivocally stated that it will not support the 27th Amendment. Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Aeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) has announced plans to block all attempts to secure its passage.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser criticized the PPP’s stance, saying: “There was once a PPP of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who laid the foundation of the constitution, and another of Benazir Bhutto, who sacrificed her life for democracy. But today’s PPP is working hard to bury democracy”.
The last step
After the draft amendment is finalized in the Senate, it will go to the National Assembly for a vote.
The ruling alliance may have a two-thirds majority in parliament, but without the support of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the passage of the 27th constitutional amendment remains uncertain. So what is the current party position in the National Assembly and how many votes are needed to pass the amendment?
The National Assembly consists of 336 members, but with 10 seats currently vacant, the total number of sitting members is 326. To pass a constitutional amendment, the ruling coalition requires the “golden number” of 224 votes.
