At an important meeting of the House Business Advisory Committee chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly, it has been decided that the government will move forward with its expected 27th Constitutional Amendment. However, the leaders of the major opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), did not attend this important meeting.
According to sources, the government’s strategy is that the process of constitutional amendment will be started from the Senate and after approval from there, the bill will be presented in the National Assembly.
A two-thirds majority (224 votes) is required in both houses of parliament to approve a constitutional amendment. Parliamentary sources say the government has the clear support of 237 members in the National Assembly, far more than the required 224 votes. The ruling coalition includes 125 members from the PML-N, 74 from the PPP, 22 from the MQM, 5 from the PML-Q, and 4 from the IPP, while it also has the support of minor parties and four independent members.
While the government is not facing any major threat in the National Assembly, the situation in the Senate is slightly different. Here, the ruling coalition has 61 members, while a constitutional amendment requires 64 votes (a two-thirds majority). According to political observers, the government will need the support of three additional members from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) or the Awami National Party (ANP) to pass the bill. Analysts say that if the government manages to maintain this required support, the approval of the 27th Constitutional Amendment will be just a matter of time.
