Yesterday, hours after the Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act 2025 was tabled in the Senate, the TTAP announced a nationwide protest movement against the proposed legislation starting today.
Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who leads the alliance, TTAP Vice Chairman Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas addressed a joint press conference in Islamabad.
“Fundamentally, the concept of social contract implies how the state will take care of an individual’s basic rights. This is what the Constitution is all about,” Khokar noted.
“Social contracts have nothing to do with personalities. The amendments to Article 243 of the Constitution are person-specific. They are made by keeping in view the benefits of one position, the position of the field marshal,” Khokhar claimed.
Khokhar said the fundamental objection to the amendments was that the parliament was “not a representative” of the public as the “mandate was manufactured”, reiterating the rigging allegations during the February 2024 general elections.
The former senator also recalled the “way the 26th Amendment was passed”, indirectly referring to the claims of the PTI and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) of their leaders being pressured to vote in favour of it.
Khokhar also criticised the Supreme Court for playing the “most important role” in the preparations for the 27th Amendment by allotting the reserved seats to the ruling coalition parties. The ruling, given by the court’s Constitutional Bench formed under the 26th Amendment, struck down an earlier SC verdict that had declared the PTI eligible for those seats.
“They (coalition partners) then got the required number [of lawmakers], as a result of which today they are about to pass the 27th Amendment,” the politician contended.
“We can’t shy away from the facts before us. This parliament does not have the ethical or legal legitimacy to carry out such big amendments,” he asserted.
According to the TTAP, its leadership was scheduled to hold a press conference at 1pm to discuss the political situation and the 27th Amendment.
The 27th Amendment bill proposes the creation of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), changes to the appointment process for high court judges, a higher cap on provincial cabinets, and changes to the military leadership structure.
PTI parliamentary leader Barrister Ali Zafar has contended that the debate on the bill was inappropriate in the absence of a notified leader of the opposition. He accused the government and its allies of being in a “hurry” to pass the amendments.
However, the PML-N and the PPP have rejected the impression that the 27th Amendment bill was rushed through without proper debate, saying the draft has undergone “extensive scrutiny”.