ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formally requested the PPP’s support for the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, which aims to establish a Constitutional Court and introduce major reforms to Pakistan’s constitutional framework.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bilawal said that a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) delegation, led by PM Shehbaz Sharif, met President Asif Ali Zardari to seek the PPP’s backing for the amendment package.
According to Bilawal, the proposals include significant constitutional changes, such as amending Article 243 — which defines the supreme command of Pakistan’s Armed Forces. Currently, Article 243 vests supreme command in the president, who appoints the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Staff on the advice of the prime minister.
The suggested amendment reportedly aims to redefine or rebalance certain powers related to these appointments, a move that could reshape the civil-military command structure.
Other key components of the proposed amendment include:
- Establishing a Constitutional Court to handle constitutional interpretation and high-level judicial matters.
- Introducing executive magistrates to strengthen administrative oversight.
- Allowing for the transfer of judges under a new judicial mechanism.
- Revising NFC Award protections, potentially altering provincial financial shares.
- Returning education and population planning responsibilities to the federal domain.
- Addressing the deadlock in the appointment process of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stated that the PPP Central Executive Committee (CEC) would meet on November 6, once President Zardari returns from Doha, to discuss the proposal in detail and decide on the party’s position.
The 27th Amendment comes a year after the 26th Constitutional Amendment (2024), which introduced several judicial and financial reforms, including:
- Fixing the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s tenure at three years.
- Establishing constitutional benches at the Supreme Court and high courts.
- Creating a parliamentary committee to nominate the next CJP from among the three most senior judges.
- Setting January 1, 2028, as the deadline to eliminate interest-based banking (Riba) from Pakistan.
The latest amendment proposal signals the federal government’s intention to pursue deeper constitutional restructuring, especially in areas related to judicial independence, provincial autonomy, and the balance of civil-military authority.
