Major progress in constitutional reforms, National Assembly passes 27th Amendment

Islamabad: An important milestone has been crossed in the parliament in terms of constitutional reforms. The National Assembly has passed the 27th Constitutional Amendment with a two-thirds majority.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar presented the amendment in a meeting chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq. During the voting, 234 members voted in favor of the amendment while 4 voted against it.

The amendment has made fundamental changes in various articles of the constitution. The addition of “Federal Constitutional Court” in Article 6, mention of “Supreme Court” in Article 10, and a provision related to the tenure of the Chief Justice was added in Article 176. Now the current Chief Justice will continue in his post until the end of his term.

According to the amendment to Article 255, the next Chief Justice of Pakistan will be selected from the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court.

The opposition opposed and protested against this amendment. JUI-F staged a sit-in in the House and later the opposition members walked out. However, the government got the required majority, after which the amendment was easily passed.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that “the 27th Constitutional Amendment has removed ambiguity in the judicial system, and the position of the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been clarified.”