ISLAMABAD: The mystery surrounding the 27th Constitutional Amendment continued to rule the roost in the Senate on Friday before the House was adjourned till today (Saturday), the weekly holiday, fuelling speculations about the arrival of the proposed law in today’s session.
However, the Senate’s eight-point meeting agenda for today (Saturday) did not include the tabling of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
But, under the relevant business rules, the government can bring any bill in the supplementary agenda in an ongoing meeting of the Senate without making prior intimation to the opposition side.
Session resumes today: 27th Amendment not on Senate agenda
The government officially remained tight-lipped on the matter on Friday.
The unofficial reports suggest that the amendment would not be moved in today’s session since it first requires the federal cabinet’s nod.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left on a two-day official visit to Azerbaijan on Friday after postponing the scheduled cabinet meeting - a scenario that indicated that the cabinet meeting is unlikely before the PM’s return.
Some reports also indicate that the PM can delegate his powers to Ishaq Dar, the Deputy Prime Minister, to chair the federal cabinet meeting in his absence from the country in case a consensus is reached between the stakeholders on the amendment.
For Friday’s Senate session, the House’s business agenda also did not include the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Senate did not attend the Senate’s Friday meeting that was presided over by Manzoor Ahmed Kakar.
The House passed three government bills—the Federal Prosecution Service (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the National School of Public Policy (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Senate also passed a resolution to extend the Frontier Constabulary (Re-organisation) Ordinance, 2025, for another 120 days.
The opposition members said the legislative draft was not shared with them. The treasury senators also appeared clueless about the authentic details of the proposed law, other than the ones that were widely shared on social media.
In the Senate meeting earlier on Tuesday, Dar, who also holds the position of the Leader of the House in the Senate, officially confirmed that the proposed law would be moved in the Parliament soon, but did not give any timeframe in this regard.
Dar said in the same session that he would request the government to move the 27th Constitutional Amendment in the Senate first, instead of the National Assembly.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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