Bill Seeking Field Marshal’s Constitutional Role Will Be Introduced to the Senate Today
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets political leaders in the federal capital. Photo: APP
ISLAMABAD:
As Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif meets with his allies to drum up support for the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, more details are emerging about 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 PAkGazette, will be presented to the Senate today (Friday) after its approval by the federal cabinet.
On Thursday, the prime minister met multi-party delegations in apparent efforts by the PML-N government to pave the way for parliament to pass a 27th amendment.
Among those he met was a seven-member delegation from the MQM-P, led by party coordinator Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said that “discussions and consultations on the proposed 27th amendment took place during the meeting.”
The delegation also included Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori, Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal, National Assembly Members 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, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Prime Minister’s Advisor Rana Sanaullah were also present in the meeting.
The prime minister and his team also met delegations from the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) and the 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 PML-Q delegation, led by Minister for Overseas Pakistanis ChaudhrySalik Hussain. The delegation also included Senator Kamil Ali Agha and National MPs 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.
“During the meetings, discussions and consultations were held on the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment,” according to a statement.
Highlights of the amendment package
Under the proposed amendments, a nine-member Constitutional Court will be established in place of the current Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. It is also proposed to raise the maximum age of judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court to 70 years.
According to the draft, in case of a deadlock in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, the matter will be referred to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
The amendment also seeks to reduce the role of the president and prime minister in appointing judges to the higher judiciary, while enhancing the powers of the PCJ.
An amendment will be introduced to article 243 to grant constitutional protection to the position of field marshal. The field marshal will also be given constitutional powers, and the proposed constitutional amendment stipulates that the title of field marshal will be retained for life.
It has been suggested that the federal government receive an additional 10% share of the portion allocated to the provinces 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 more 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 in 2010, “the next step, naturally, is local autonomy, so its turn must come.”
“The important thing that we also said at the time of the 26th Amendment is that our package of constitutional amendments be included,” MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said during a press conference, referring to his agreement with the PML-N to empower local governments.
“But it wasn’t like that,” he lamented, calling for the issue to be included in the 27th Amendment.
