28th Amendment on the cards, says Rana Sanaullah

Adviser to Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Monday said the government is finalising the 28th Constitutional Amendment, noting that the draft would be tabled once a broader consensus is reached.

Speaking to journalists in Chiniot, Sanaullah said the proposed amendment would relate to local bodies, the National Finance Commission (NFC) and health matters, noting that discussions on these subjects were already underway.

He added that if consensus is achieved, the government can move forward with formally presenting the 28th Amendment in parliament.

His remarks came days after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling coalition passed the 27th Amendment, which brought changes to the judicial structure and military command.

According to the amendment, the Chief of Army Staff will concurrently serve as the Chief of Defence Forces, making the position the central command authority for the armed forces. The military ranks of Field Marshal, Marshal of the Air Force and Admiral of the Fleet will now remain lifetime titles.

A major structural change comes in the form of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), which is being established as a new judicial forum with equal representation from all provinces. The amendment empowers the FCC to exercise suo motu authority upon petitions.

The amendment assigns the president and prime minister key roles in judicial appointments, while reducing certain powers of the Supreme Court and shifting some of its authority to the newly established FCC.

Sanaullah, while speaking to journalists today, also referred to the resignations, tendered by two Supreme Court judges and one from Lahore High Court (LHC), saying that the parliament has the constitutional right to pass amendments, while judges have taken an oath to uphold and protect those decisions.

The prime minister’s adviser said it does not befit any judge to involve themselves in political protests. “Those who stepped down did so due to their personal motives,” he added.

Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah resigned from their posts in separate letters to President Asif Ali Zardari, strongly criticising the 27th Amendment.

The jurists had criticised the 27th Amendment, describing it as a “grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”. However, the federal government called the judges’ resignations “political speeches” and the latter’s allegations “unconstitutional”.

Two days later, LHC judge Shams Mehmood Mirza followed the jurists’ footsteps and quit from his position “in protest against the newly-enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment.”