Fazl rejects proposed 27th Amendment

ISLAMABAD: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday declared the current parliament a rubber-stamp institution as he rejected the proposed 27th Constitution Amendment.

Talking to journalists here at his residence after a consultative meeting with his party leadership, Maulana warned that any change to Article 243 that undermines democracy would be unacceptable to his party.

He further deplored that the religious seminaries were being compelled to register with the Ministry of Education in violation of the agreement with his party by the government during the passage of the 26th constitutional amendment a year ago.

Fazl criticised the government for failing to make progress on interest-free financial reforms and for not registering religious schools properly. “The government is attempting to forcefully register religious schools with the Ministry of Education, which is unacceptable,” he noted.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that if the rights of the provinces were usurped, his party would offer strong resistance. He said that they stood for granting greater autonomy to the provinces. He added that even the registration of seminaries was not being carried out.

Maulana maintained that the government had withdrawn 35 clauses during the passage of the 26th constitutional amendment, adding that inclusion of those proposals in the 27th Amendment would amount to disrespecting the constitution and the parliament.

He emphasised that the 18th Amendment had strengthened provincial powers, and any attempt to reduce them would face strong opposition. “JUI-F advocates for granting provinces greater authority, not diminishing their rights. Provincial powers can be expanded, but reduction is unacceptable,” he stated.

While calling for a collective approach to address national challenges, he remarked that nothing is being handled properly, and fixing this requires collective thinking.

Maulana stressed the need for a natural governance system. “During the 26th Amendment, all parliamentary parties were in mutual contact. Society cannot accept an unnatural system; natural governance must prevail,” he said, reiterating JUI-F’s position on constitutional safeguards and provincial rights.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025