The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has called the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment a “conspiracy against the Constitution” and refused to become part of the proceedings of the committee established to discuss the bill.

“The proposed 27th Amendment is nothing short of a conspiracy against the Constitution. The entire process is being carried out in haste, without consultation or deliberation, in complete disregard of democratic norms and parliamentary traditions,” Senator Ali Zafar said while talking to Dawn.

“These amendments strike at the very foundation of the constitutional structure by undermining the independence of the judiciary and eroding the delicate balance of powers that the 1973 Constitution so carefully created,” he said.

“Any change to the Constitution must come only through broad-based national consensus, not through secret drafts or executive dictates. The Constitution belongs to the people of Pakistan, not to any government of the day, and no one has the right to mutilate it for political convenience,” Senator Zafar said while explaining why his party has decided not to become part of the debate.

PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said the proposed constitutional amendment is a “ploy to enslave us”.

“Subjugating the Supreme Court to a new court, whose judges will be the favorites of the current Form 47 government, is to turn the judicial system into an instrument of coercion,” said the PTI leader in a post on X.

Former Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, while talking to Dawn, said that PTI has a clear stance that the current parliament cannot do any legislation as it lacks the mandate of the masses.

“We will use all possible tactics and platforms, including protest, to stop the legislation. I believe that fresh elections should be held before any such legislation because the current government is a Form-47 government and it does not have the mandate of the people,” he explained.

Asad Qaiser said that a meeting of the party leadership will be called to devise further strategy to resist against the move.

Earlier, while talking to the media outside the Parliament, Senator Zafar claimed that the draft of the 27th Amendment had 50 amendments.

He said it was strange that the amendments were being made without sharing them with the masses. Zafar added that his party’s Senators would not be able to discuss the amendment in the committee, as they had not read the bill.

Replying to a question, he said that the civil society, legislators and other stakeholders discussed the draft of the 18th Amendment for over a year and gave their recommendations and proposals, but this time “efforts were being made to pass the amendment in haste”.

Senator Zafar said that it was unfortunate that the spirit of the 1973 Constitution was being changed, and the PPP is supporting it.

Earlier today, the bill for the 27th Constitutional Amendment was tabled before the Senate and subsequently referred to the standing committees on law and justice.

The bill proposed the formation of a Federal Constitutional Court, changes in the process for appointing high court judges, changes to the threshold for provincial cabinets, and changes to the military leadership structure.

The law minister then moved the bill before the upper house, with Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani referring it to the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on law and justice for review and consideration. He said that both committees may hold joint meetings for a detailed review and consideration, and the report would be presented before the House.

Following deliberations on the proposed amendment, the law committees of both Houses adjourned the moot till Sunday.

PM Shehbaz had held consultations with multiple ruling allies on Thursday, meeting with the top leadership of the PML-Q, the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Balochistan Awami Party, the ANP and the PML-Zia.

However, there was no meeting between the government and the PTI.

On November 3, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari revealed that the government’s proposed amendments included “setting up [of] constitutional court, executive magistrates, transfer of judges, removal of protection of provincial share in NFC, amending article 243, return of education and population planning to the federation and breaking [the] deadlock on appointment of ECP”.