27th Amendment: PPP 'backs' tweaking Article 243, constitutional court

• PPP opposes dual citizenship, magistracy proposals.
• NFC shares for provinces cannot be reduced.
• Party seeks progress on Charter of Democracy.
  

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said his party supported amending Article 243 and forming a constitutional court while ensuring democratic and civilian safeguards remained intact.

"After our Central Executive Committee meeting, we agreed on three points: amending Article 243, establishing a constitutional court, and managing judges’ transfers through proper consultation," Bilawal said during a media briefing in Karachi.

He clarified that judges’ transfers should involve both the outgoing and incoming chief justices as part of the judicial commission. "We support transfers, provided the relevant high court chief justices are consulted. Authority should not be unilateral," he added.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is reportedly planning to introduce a new designation named "Commander of Defence Forces" (CDF) in the proposed change in Article 243, which vests the command and control of the armed forces in the President of Pakistan.

The proposal also includes removing protections for the provincial share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, along with a new article addressing the dual citizenship of government officials.

Other tweaks to the Constitution include increasing the retirement age of judges of the Constitutional Court to 68 years, three years higher than that of the Supreme Court judges, who currently retire at 65.

Bilawal stressed that the PPP would not back proposals on dual citizenship or changes to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. "NFC allocations can increase for provinces but cannot be reduced," he said, highlighting the constitutional protection of provincial financial rights.

On local governance, he pointed out that Sindh enjoys the highest financial autonomy under the local government system. He also called for advancing other aspects of the Charter of Democracy, stating, "We will see on which additional points consensus can be reached during the 27th amendment process."

Regarding Article 243, he reassured that presidential powers or civilian supremacy would not be affected. "If democracy or civilian authority were harmed, we would oppose it ourselves," Bilawal said. He also invited JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to meet at Bilawal House, calling it his "second home."

Shortly before Bilawal's address, the JUI-F chief said on a separate occasion that his party would oppose any changes to Article 243 that "undermined democracy" in the country.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Maulana Fazl vowed that his party would reject attempts to reduce provinces’ authority.

"JUI-F advocates for granting provinces greater authority, not diminishing their rights. Provincial powers can be expanded, but reduction is unacceptable," he said.