27th Amendment: Pakistan's controversial bill garners backlash from Opposition & legal experts

The controversial 27th Amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution has raised concerns among legal experts, who claim that the legislation challenges the judicial fabric. The initial draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill, ta­­b­led in the Senate on Saturday, led many experts to believe that the changes would in effect dethrone the Supreme Court of Pakistan, ceding that position to a proposed Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

Not only this, the amendment has also garnered criticisms from Pakistan’s opposition parties, who have announced protests over the matter. “Left with a limited jurisdiction of deciding ordinary civil, criminal and statutory appeals, the Supreme Court has now become all the more a ‘Supreme District Court’,” a senior counsel, who asked to remain anonymous, told Dawn.

He warned that the Pakistan government could now amend laws like the Elections Act 2017 and others to route appeals to the FCC instead of the Supreme Court. While explaining the controversial Bill, the senior counsel said that the amendment to Article 175 was “virtually the end of the judiciary as we knew it”, arguing that the Supreme Court had been “amended out of the Constitution by making it irrelevant”.

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Meanwhile, former additional attorney general Tariq Mehmood Khokhar told Dawn that the essence of the package was twofold. Firstly, the insertion of a new Chapter 1A in the Constitution, he believes, would tighten the executive control over the judiciary throught “expanded powers” such as transferring high court judges, and establish an FCC “empowered by disempowering the Supreme Court”.

Secondly, the amendment to Article 243 that formally vests the office of Chief of the Defence Forces in the Chief of the Army Staff and constitutionally guarantees the Field Marshal rank for life.

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Opposition plans to protest

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s opposition alliance, Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP), on Saturday announced a nationwide protest against the proposed legislation. The alliance urged people to take a stand against the “extremely dark and dangerous” change in the Constitution, Dawn reported.

It is pertinent to note that TTAP is a coalition of six opposition parties, formed last year. Earlier this year, it formalised its organisational structure, declaring blanket support for all anti-government protests.

On Saturday, Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas shared a video statement, calling for protests across the country on November 9.

In the video, Abbas said that democratic institutions in the country have been “paralysed” and the “nation must step up”. He said the government was given even more power through “to the powerful”. “In this hour, it is the responsibility of the people of Pakistan to take a stand and speak against such an extremely dark and extremely dangerous constitutional amendment, which is the 27th (amendment)," he said.

Leader of the opposition-designate Achakzai said that the alliance, through the protests, would show that the “will of the people” of Pakistan will be the final decision. “I have given an oath, at least on five different occasions, that I will safeguard the Constitution. Our parliament is attacking our Constitution,” said the PkMAP leader, who is also the chairman of the opposition alliance.

He maintained that the parliament is representative of the people; hence, the opposition alliance is approaching the masses directly. “The way they are attacking the parliament, and the manner in which they are shaking the foundations of the Constitution and Pakistan, we are left with no other option," he said. Overall, the 27th Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution continues to remain a controversial topic in the country.