Is Pakistan’s 27th Amendment to Constitution the end of civilian rule?

Pakistan is on the verge of making significant changes to its Constitution, which would leave greater power in the hands of Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The federal government is planning to present the 27th Constit­utional Amendment in the Parliament in the coming days.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with ruling allies on Thursday (November 6) to reach a consensus on the controversial legislation. The bill is reported to be tabled in the Senate soon.

Let’s take a closer look.

What’s in Pakistan’s 27th Constit­utional Amendment?

The Pakistan government is vying to amend the Constitution to bring changes to the judiciary, armed forces and distribution of resources between the federal and provincial governments.

As per The Diplomat report, there are proposals to amend Article 243 of the Pakistani Constitution, which relates to control of the armed forces.

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Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that discussions are underway on amendments to the law governing the armed forces. He underlined that these consultations for amending Article 243 were needed because “defence requirements have changed.”

According to Article 243 of the Constitution, the federal government “shall have control and command of the armed forces” and that “the supreme command of the armed forces shall vest in the president”.

The government has not revealed what changes could be made to Article 243. However, as per a Pakistani journalist, the government is considering creating a position similar to a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Field Marshal Munir would then be in charge of all services, heading a central command.

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It remains uncertain whether Munir would then stay as the Pakistan army chief or vacate that post, Ayesha Siddiqa, a senior fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, wrote in an opinion piece for ThePrint.

Another major change could be introduced in the judiciary. This includes empowering the Supreme Judicial Council to transfer judges without their prior approval, as per ThePrint report.

Currently, a judge’s consent is sought before a transfer to another court.

Notably, the government wants to set up an independent Constitutional Court to limit judicial overreach. The move would give greater powers to the Chief Justice, who may ensure that cases pertaining to the Constitution are heard by only favourable judges.

District-level courts could get executive magistrates for handling petty crimes and maintaining public order, reducing the burden on the courts, as per The Diplomat report.

The amendment is likely to tweak rules on provincial shares of federal revenue, giving Islamabad more power to reduce provincial budgets during economic crises.

To prevent election delays, the proposed legislation plans to remove obstacles to the appointment of Election Commission members, so that any dispute among political parties does not leave the posts vacant for years.

It also proposes the return of education and population planning to the Centre.

According to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the proposed amendments include ending the protection for the provincial share under the National Finance Commission (NFC).

On November 3, he wrote in a post on X that a delegation of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by PM Sharif had visited him and President Asif Ali Zardari to seek their support for the 27th constitutional amendment. The PPP and PML-N are allies in the federal coalition government.

Fears over Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment

The proposed amendments have sparked concerns about threatening democracy. Critics argue that the Sharif government is trying to undermine the judiciary and take policy control from provinces.

The amendments are expected to give Munir greater powers over all services. “The 27th Amendment is really about Munir’s power consolidation—and Pakistan slipping further toward the unravelling of democracy,” Siddiqa wrote for ThePrint. 

There are fears that the 27th Amendment would roll back the 18th Amen­dment. Passed in 2010, the legislation increased the financial and administrative autonomy of the provinces, particularly in sectors like health and education.

Pushtun leader Mohsin Dawar called the 27th Amendment “a blatant attempt to undo the 18th Amendment, long the bane of Punjab’s civil-military elite”.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, however, has assured that the 18th amendment would not be undone. He told the National Assembly on November 5 to stop “negative and false propaganda.”

He claimed there was no plan to take control of provincial educational institutions or boards. “We are just talking about a uniform syllabus,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

The bill is viewed as the government’s effort to weaken the judiciary and make it completely docile.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has emphasised building consensus for passing constitutional amendments. He argued that the 27th Amendment defied the spirit of the Constitution and warned the government against dividing the nation. “It will further jeopardise the independence of the judiciary,” he said, as per Dawn. 

However, Chaudhry defended that setting up a separate constitutional court would help reduce case backlogs.

Can govt get the bill passed?

The Pakistan government’s bill is expected to pass the Parliament hurdle. The ruling coalition has 233 seats in the 336-member National Assembly. The government needs 224 seats for a two-thirds majority.

In the 96-member Senate, the government has 64 seats, the number required to get a bill passed in the upper house.

With these numbers, the government does not need the support of independent senators or opposition parties, especially of Imran Khan’s PTI, which has opposed the bill.

The 27th Constitutional Amendment will be introduced in the Senate within days, Dawn reported.

While there are reports that PM Sharif will establish a parliamentary committee comprising all parties to fine-tune the legislation and develop a consensus. However, there has been no confirmation from the Prime Minister’s Office.

As per the Pakistani daily, all government partners, except the PPP, have promised conditional support, given that the 18th Amendment is not rolled back.

The Pakistan government is reportedly adamant about getting the 27th Amendment passed next week. After the Senate, the bill will be tabled in the National Assembly.

Constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority in both houses; the Sharif government then must get the support of the PPP to get the bill passed.

With inputs from agencies