Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), a multi-party opposition alliance, has announced a nationwide protest movement against the proposed 27th constitutional amendment, hours after the government tabled it in the upper house of parliament.
“Democratic institutions have been paralyzed in Pakistan… the nation must rise up [proposed] 27th Amendment,” Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said in a statement.
Abbas stated that the government was giving “even more power” to the “powerful” through the proposed constitutional adjustments.
Besides MWM, the alliance also includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the nationwide movement would begin from tomorrow (Sunday) evening.
“From tomorrow night our slogan will be “Long live democracy, down with dictatorship.” Our third slogan will call for the release of [political] prisoners,” he said.
Through this move, the alliance will show that the will of the Pakistani people will be the final decision, he added.
Achakzai stressed the importance of the Constitution to both the state and its citizens and said the TTAP would ensure that it remains supreme.
The PkMAP chief said the opposition alliance had no choice but to launch a protest movement following the government’s move, which he said “shaken the foundations of the constitution”.
The announcement of a protest movement comes shortly after the federal government tabled the 27th constitutional amendment in the Senate, which seeks sweeping changes to military and judicial structures.
The proposed amendment – initiated by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with the support of most of its allies – was tabled in the Senate and sent to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice for discussion.
The amendment proposes an amendment to Article 243 that seeks to abolish the position of “Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee” (CJCSC) and introduce a new title, “Chief of Defense Forces”.
Other proposals include the creation of a federal constitutional court and revisions to the process of appointing Supreme Court justices.
The proposed amendment also aims to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court, moving some powers to the proposed Constitutional Court, and immunity for the president from criminal proceedings for life.
