Overview
- The cabinet approved the draft with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairing remotely from Baku, and officials said PPP proposals were reviewed during the session.
- Government briefings say the bill creates a Commander of Defence Forces, sets up a seven-member Constitutional Court, raises judges’ retirement in that court to 68, introduces a joint high court seniority list, and empowers judicial bodies to transfer judges.
- Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the PPP will back changes to Article 243, the formation of constitutional courts, and judge-transfer reforms with safeguards, but it rejects any move affecting Article 160(3A) on NFC shares or rolling back Schedules 2 and 3.
- Other PPP red lines include proposals on dual nationality rules, restoring executive magistrates’ powers, altering the CEC appointment process, and shifting education and population subjects back to the federal domain.
- The government plans to place the bill before the Senate today and refer it to the Law and Justice Committee, while opposition parties and civil society groups warn of risks to judicial independence and provincial autonomy and prepare protests.