ISLAMABAD: The 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill is all set to be tabled in the senate today (Monday), after approval from the joint parliamentary Standing Committees on Law and Justice
The joint parliamentary Standing Committees on Law and Justice of both the Senate and the National Assembly met on Sunday and unanimously cleared a draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment after a clause-by-clause review.
The Senate Secretariat has issued the orders of the day for November 10, which includes the key legislative business.
The meeting which okayed the draft was held in Committee Room No. 5 of the National Assembly of Pakistan and chaired by Senator Farooq H. Naek.
Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senator Farooq H. Naek, Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kiani, and senior parliamentarians from government benches and allies attended the meeting..
Parliamentary parties including PTI, MWM, PkMAP, and the Sunni Ittehad Council did not attend and have announced boycott of the parliamentary process around the 27th Amendment.
According to participants and briefings about Sunday’s meeting, the joint committees did not adopt four separate requests raised by allied parties:
- MQM’s push for a stronger local government devolution under Article 140A;
- BAP’s proposal to increase provincial assembly seats;
- PML-Q’s call for a uniform national curriculum;
- ANP’s suggestion to rename Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
These items were reported as rejected at committee stage and excluded from the draft forwarded to the Senate.
It is pertinent to mention here a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of the total membership in each House of Parliament. After passage in one House, it moves to the other. Once both Houses pass the identical text, it goes to the President for assent as per Pakistan’s constitution article 239.
If the amendment alters provincial boundaries, the relevant Provincial Assembly must also pass it by a two thirds vote.
Also read: Senator Irfan Siddiqui Hospitalised: Will Not Vote on 27th Constitutional Amendment
