The Federal Cabinet on Saturday approved the draft of the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment after thoroughly considering the PPP recommendations. The meeting of the federal cabinet was held at PM House in Islamabad during which the members were briefed about draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting from Baku via a video link.The government is now set to table the 2th Amendment draft in the Upper House of the Parliament – Senate.

On Friday, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) finalized an initial draft of the amendment, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif having consulted coalition partners on the proposal.The draft proposes an amendment to Article 243 to rename the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to Strategic Command, and a new position added to the constitution. It also proposes to reintroduce and regularize the post of the field marshal.

Under the changes proposed to be brought to Article 160, the Centre gets a bigger chunk of the pie, with its share in National Finance Commission (NFC) Awards increasing by 10 per cent — from 42.5 per cent to 52.5 per cent. Recommendations have also been made in the draft to amend Articles 199 & 200. If amended, the role of the president and prime minister in judicial appointments will be reduced, with more powers vested in the Supreme Judicial Commission.

A nine-member federal constitutional court will replace the existing constitutional bench in the Supreme Court. Retirement age for judges of both the Supreme Court and the federal constitutional court goes up by two years — from 68 to 70.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)