Opposition parties boycott session, announce plans for protests tonight

The joint parliamentary committee of the Senate and National Assembly on Law and Justice has now officially begun its proceedings to discuss the 27th Constitutional Amendment. The joint committee is expected to approve the draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment today.

Sources close to the matter have told The Express Tribune that

• Government coalition parties have tabled three additional amendments, while ANP, BNP, and MQM have also presented their respective proposals.

• The committee has approved the clause for the establishment of constitutional courts.

• An amendment extending the decision period for pending cases from six months to one year has been approved. Under this proposal, any case not pursued within a year will be considered disposed of.

• The ANP has proposed renaming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by removing the word “Khyber,” arguing that it is a district name and that other provinces do not include district names in their titles.

• The MQM has reached an agreement regarding amendments related to funding for local government representatives.

• Consultations on Articles 243 and 200 are still ongoing, sources said.

• An agreement has been reached to increase the number of seats in the Balochistan Assembly, though the details are yet to be finalised.

Sources further confirmed that discussions on 12 clauses, ranging from Article 175-A to Article 175-L, have been completed.

Consultations regarding amendments to increase the number of advisers to the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers have also concluded.

Deliberations on the reconstitution of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Judicial Commission are finalised, while discussions on Article 200, concerning the transfer of judges, are still underway.

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The meeting is being chaired by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farooq H. Naik. Federal Law Minister Azam Tarar also arrived for the committee meeting.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslime