The bill for the 27th Constitutional Amendment is expected to be tabled in the National Assembly (NA) after it sailed through the Senate on Monday.
PPP MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was disrupted by a ruckus and shouting from the opposition benches as he began to speak in the NA. Speaking on the immunity for the president, he said this was standard practice in many countries for the head of state.
He assailed the opposition, saying who was it to criticise the treasury benches when its ranks were filled with those who had violated the Constitution.
PTI members chanted slogans of “Go Zardari go” and “Long live Imran Khan” while terming the former prime minister as “Raja rental”.
Continuing his criticism of the opposition, he said it was content to only raise a hue and cry, adding that the treasury benches would react in kind to any speaker from the other side.
The government and its coalition partners earlier secured a two-thirds majority in the Senate vote following the defection of two opposition members.
The bill, which had stirred controversy in the country for weeks, was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, while Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani presided over the proceedings.
Before the passage of the bill, opposition benches erupted in protest, chanting slogans against the government and its coalition partners. Lawmakers tore up copies of the bill and hurled them toward the Tarar’s table as he began to present it.
Most opposition members then staged a walkout, while a few stayed briefly to continue sloganeering before exiting the chamber — paving the way for the smooth passage of the bill.
A joint meeting of the Senate and the National Assembly’s law and justice standing committees — boycotted by the opposition — approved the 27th Constitutional Amendment bill with minor changes. Senate Standing Committee of Law and Justice Chairman Farooq H. Naek presented a report on those before the Upper House.
Approval by parliamentary committees
The bill, which was tabled by Tarar in the Senate on Saturday amid outcry from the opposition and hours after getting the federal cabinet’s nod, aims to set up a federal constitutional court and grant lifetime status to the field marshal rank.
On Sunday, a joint meeting of the Senate and the National Assembly’s law and justice standing committees had approved the 27th Constitutional Amendment bill with minor changes amid a boycott by the opposition.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also attended the meeting, said all key amendments, including changes to Article 243, which provides that the federal government “shall have control and command of the armed forces” and pertains to the military command structure, were amicably approved by both committees.
Senator Naek, who was presiding over the meeting, said the bill was adopted with minor changes. He said that the committees empowered him and the law minister to make a couple of amendments.
The committees, however, deferred the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) proposal, seeking to amend Article 140 that pertains to local governments, as well as the Awami National Party’s (ANP) recommendation for changing the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The ANP had submitted a proposal to rename the province by removing ‘Khyber’, arguing that Khyber was a district and other provinces did not include district names in their titles. Likewise, the Balochistan National Party’s proposed amendment to increase the province’s seats in Parliament was also deferred.
Earlier in the day, ANP’s Hidayatullah Khan told reporters that the committee had sought time until Monday to decide on his party’s suggestion for changing the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Meanwhile, the law minister told reporters it was decided that provinces would be taken into confidence on changing KP’s name.
