PESHAWAR: President Asif Ali Zardari has signed the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill, after which this amendment has formally become part of the Constitution of Pakistan.
This bill was recently passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate. The main objective of the 27th Constitutional Amendment is to provide a clear division of powers between the federation and the provinces, electoral reforms, and constitutional protection to the local government system. The amendment also includes provisions to make judicial reforms and the parliamentary oversight mechanism more effective.
The amendment clarifies some provisions related to provincial autonomy, while new principles have been formulated to further strengthen the scope of the Election Commission, constituencies and the transparency process. Government sources said that the 27th Amendment is a significant step towards strengthening democratic institutions in the country, fair distribution of powers and establishing constitutional balance.
According to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, the proposals in the proposed constitutional amendment include the establishment of a constitutional court, restoration of executive magistrates, power to transfer judges, elimination of provincial share protection in NFC awards, amendment to Article 243, returning education and population planning matters to the federation and ending the deadlock on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner.
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