Islamabad: After approval from the Senate, the 27th Constitutional Amendment was also passed by the National Assembly with a two-thirds majority. 234 members voted in favor of the amendment while 4 members opposed it.
All 59 clauses of the amendment were passed through clause-wise voting. In a meeting chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar moved the amendment motion, after which the voting process began.
The government added 8 new amendments to the 27th Constitutional Amendment, in which four clauses were removed and four new clauses were added. The word “Federal Constitutional Court” was added to Article 6 of the Constitution, while “Supreme Court” was added to Article 10.
Under Article 176, it was decided that the current Chief Justice will be called “Chief Justice of Pakistan” until the end of his term, while the most senior Chief Justice will be given this position for the next appointment.
The opposition staged a sit-in in front of Speaker Dice in protest against the amendment and later walked out of the House. JUI voted against the amendment, while Khursheed Shah joined the House in a wheelchair, after which the government got the required two-thirds majority.
Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that the amendment has removed the ambiguity in the position of Chief Justice, “The position of Chief Justice of Pakistan will remain, whether he is from the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court, the senior most judge will be the Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
