Draft bill seeking a constitutional role for field marshal due to go to Senate today
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets political leaders in the federal capital. Photo: APP
ISLAMABAD:
As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets his allies to rally support for the proposed 27th constitutional amendment, further details are emerging of the draft package, which – among other things – seeks to establish a constitutional role for the field marshal.
The draft of the proposed amendment, seen by The Express Pakinomist, will be submitted to the Senate today (Friday) following its approval by the Federal Cabinet.
On Thursday, the prime minister held meetings with the delegations of several parties in apparent efforts by the PML-N government to prepare the ground for a 27th amendment to be approved by parliament.
Among those he met was a seven-member delegation from the MQM-P, led by the party’s convener, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said “discussion and consultation took place on the proposed 27th Amendment” during the meeting.
The delegation also included Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori, Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, Members of the National Assembly Dr. Farooq Sattar, Jawed Hanif Khan, Syed Aminul Haque and Khawaja Izharul Hassan, the statement added.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Finance Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Advisor to Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah were also present in the meeting.
The Prime Minister and his team also met with delegations from Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and PML-Q. IPP leaders Abdul Aleem Khan and Aun Chaudhry were part of the delegation. Khan and Chaudhry are also part of the federal cabinet.
Another statement from the prime minister’s office said the prime minister also met a delegation from the PML-Q, which was led by Minister for Overseas Pakistanis ChaudhrySalik Hussain. The delegation also included Senator Kamil Ali Agha and MNAs Ilyas Choudhary and Farukh Khan.
The Prime Minister also held separate meetings with BAP Party President Khalid Hussain Magsi, Senator Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, PML-Z MNA Ijazul Haq, NP Legislator Mir Pullain Baloch, ANP President Aimal Wali Khan and Senator Umar Farooq.
“Discussions and consultations were held on the proposed 27th constitutional amendment during the meetings,” it said in a statement.
Highlights of the change package
Under the proposed changes, a nine-member Constitutional Court will be established in place of the current Supreme Court Constitutional Court. It is also proposed that the upper age limit for judges at the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court be raised to 70 years.
According to the draft, the matter will be referred to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) in case of deadlock regarding the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner.
The amendment also seeks to reduce the role of the President and Prime Minister in the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary, while strengthening the powers of the JCP.
An amendment to Article 243 will be introduced to give constitutional protection to the post of Field Marshal. The field marshal is also given constitutional powers, and the proposed constitutional amendment stipulates that the title of field marshal be held for life.
It has been proposed that the federal government receive an additional 10% share from the provinces’ allocated share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, while consensus will be sought to transfer the education and health sectors to the federal government.
Sources said the PPP is not ready to constitutionally grant additional powers to local government (LG) institutions. The proposal to give more powers to local bodies will be discussed further.
A day earlier, the MQM-P had demanded that LGs be given autonomy in the proposed 27th constitutional amendment after the PPP revealed key features of the proposed amendment for which the PML-N-led government sought its support.
The party said that after provincial autonomy was granted under the 18th Amendment of 2010, “the next step is obviously local autonomy, so it’s time to come”.
“The important thing, which we also said at the time of the 26th amendment, that our constitutional amendment package must be included,” MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said during a press conference, referring to his agreement with the PML-N to strengthen local governments.
“But that didn’t happen,” he lamented, calling for the matter to be included in the 27th Amendment.
