Is the government trying to table a 27th Constitutional Amendment?

An interesting situation is emerging in the political sphere of Pakistan as the coalition government, days after passing the 26th Constitutional Amendment, is now preparing to table the 27th Constitutional Amendment in the parliament.

ARY News reported that a meeting was held between Shahbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday in Lahore, in which it was agreed by the two coalition partners that the 27th Constitutional Amendment would also be brought into effect and all efforts would be made to do so.

In order to pass the new amendments, the government would need a 2/3rd majority in both houses of the parliament; however, JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazl ur Rehman has categorically refused to support any new amendments while talking to the media.

But the real question is, what is the government trying to achieve through the 27th Amendment?

Anchorperson Maria Memon stated on her show recently that there are considerable legal loopholes in the recently passed amendments, including the fact that “a constitutional bench cannot be formed.”

According to Memon, “Article 191A dictates that a judicial commission would be responsible for making constitutional benches. However, according to Article 175A (one), the Judicial Commission must include the most senior Judge or Judges.”

Maria stated that this is a serious flaw, and neither a new judicial commission nor a constitution bench can be appointed unless the Parliament amends the provision through the 27th constitutional amendment.

The question arises whether the government would try to amend the seniority list of judges in the next amendments.

Furthermore, recently, Rana Sanaullah, while talking to the media, also hinted at the possibility of legalising military trials of civilians in the upcoming amendments.

Geo News reported that the coalition government wants to bring the 27th constitutional amendment aimed at empowering local government systems in the provinces.

Adviser to the PM on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah pointed to the MQM-P’s long-standing demand for legislation to amend Article 140A to empower local government, including a request to allocate funds to local government (LG) institutions similar to the financing provided to provincial administrations.