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27TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND CLEARS SENATE AMID ‘UPROAR, DEFECTIONS AND DEEPENING POLITICAL RIFTS’ Tuesday, 11 November, 2025 | 19 Jamadiul Awwal, 1447
ISLAMABAD
Saleem Jadoon
The government on Monday pushed the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment through the Senate with an emphatic 64-vote majority, securing the crucial two-thirds support it needed after weeks of political turbulence,
fierce objections from the opposition and acrimonious scenes inside the upper house. The amendment — one of the most consequential constitutional overhauls in recent years — passed after dramatic procedural voting, loud sloganeering, torn copies of the bill hurled towards the treasury benches, and a walkout by nearly the entire opposition,
which accused the government of forcing through a measure that would reshape Pakistan’s judicial and military command structures without national consensus. The ruling coalition’s victory hinged on the defection of two opposition senators, allowing the amendment to comfortably cross the 64-vote threshold required in the 100-member house. The
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government now moves to the final stage: securing passage in the National Assembly, where it already enjoys a two-thirds majority. Yet Monday’s proceedings — charged, chaotic and politically revealing — also exposed widening cracks in several political parties, signalled intra-party dissent, and raised questions about the long-term implications of new consti-
tutional arrangements, including the creation of a Federal Constitutional Court, alterations to Article 243, and the formal constitutional recognition of a five-star field marshal rank. Opposition protests, torn papers and walkout clear the way The Senate session, presided over by Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, witnessed heated scenes even before Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar rose to present the bill. Opposition lawmakers rose from their seats shouting slogans, accusing the government of upending constitutional traditions, and casting the amendment as an assault on the judiciary and an attempt to shield specific offices from accountability.
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