In a series of protests, the Pakistani opposition parties are staging nationwide demonstrations on Sunday, even as the Shehbaz Sharif government plans to enact a major constitutional amendment bill that suggests far-reaching reforms, one enabling the restructuring of powers of the Army Chief Asim Munir. The Opposition has decried the move saying it would rock the roots of the Constitution.
Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment Faces Backlash
According to the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, the changes will be very crucial in changing the balance of power among the state institutions of Pakistan and especially the military. It brings in a new and strong post of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), which would be occupied by the Army Chief, which would be Field Marshal Asim Munir, and would also be the head of the Army which is constitutionally recognised as head of the Navy and the Air Force.
The Field Marshal will be given lifetime privileges after the 27th Amendment, and none can be brought against him in his whole life. Asim Munir is too frightened of his own transgressions that he is building a wall round him.
The reason is that he knows that of what he has done to the nation, he will be forced to stand in the dock, which is why a high ranking individual of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is securing lifetime immunity on himself.
The amendment further aims at establishing a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), that would take over part of the powers of Supreme Court, such as constitutional interpretation and settling of disputes between federal and provincial governments. It also suggests the modification of the process of appointing judges to the High Court and giving the President lifetime criminal immunity.
The political conflicts in Pakistan will not be subject to the courts after the 27th Amendment. It will make it bitter and will directly affect the economy, said political analyst Habib Akram, in comparison with the 8th Amendment of General Zia-ul-Haq who he believed would ultimately turn against those who had drafted the 8th Amendment.
Opposition Launches Nationwide Protests
Adding to the criticism, another opposition leader Abuzar Salman Niazi commented: In the Court of the Powerful: The Constitution of Pakistan and its Judiciary: Guilty of independence and devotion to law. Under 26th and 27th Amendments sentenced to death. Justice served, Hybrid Regime style.
The Senate actually started voting on the amendment this weekend in the backdrop of a growing divided political environment and heated analysis by legal scholars. The bill tabled by the Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar was sent to a committee where it was further discussed on Saturday following its presentation. It is likely to be introduced to the vote as early as Monday. The government has been confident in getting the two-thirds majority (at least 64 senators).
Provided it is passed, the amendment would be one of the most comprehensive constitutional reforms in the recent history in Pakistan. This formation of the FCC has raised specific eyebrows because it would basically render the Supreme Court to be incompetent in its constitutional powers of oversight and leave it to adjudicate solely on appeal cases on civil and criminal issues and statutory cases.
The multi-party opposition alliance, Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) has declared a prolonged protest campaign in the country. The alliance consists of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) under the leadership of a jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), and the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
In a statement, MWM chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said that democratic institutions had been crippled in Pakistan. The country needs to stand up against the suggested 27 th Amendment.
PkMAP head Mahmood Khan Achakzai announced that demonstrations would start all over the country on Sunday saying, our slogans will be, long live democracy and down with dictatorship. The third thing we shall demand is the release of the political prisoners.
Political leaders are among the people who have expressed concern regarding the changes that are to be implemented, as well as legal and defence experts. Others have referred to the amendments as practically abolishing the judiciary as we know it by contending that the Supreme Court has been amended out of the Constitution by rendering it irrelevant.
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