00:00Big changes are underway in Pakistan.
00:03The country's parliament has approved a landmark constitutional amendment, one that reshapes
00:07the military and judicial systems.
00:10What is in it for the people of Pakistan, for the common citizens of Pakistan, it is
00:13an elitist amendment.
00:15It is always with the people in mind, with the general public in mind, that we try to
00:20bring in any improvement in the law, in the constitution.
00:23What is Pakistan's 27th amendment all about?
00:26In a nutshell, it expands the army chief's powers and limits what Pakistan's top court
00:31can do.
00:32The 27th amendment is one of those amendments on which we can never be proud of.
00:37This is basically an attack on the constitution of Pakistan.
00:40It's a person-specific amendment.
00:43Army Chief Aasem Munir is said to be the main beneficiary.
00:46US President Donald Trump called this man, my favourite Field Marshal.
00:51In November 2022, Munir took over as Pakistan's army chief.
00:56Just days after the four-day clash with India in May 2025, Munir was promoted to Field Marshal,
01:02and given a rare five-star rank.
01:04It is only the second time in Pakistan's history.
01:07By the end of November, Munir will get another promotion.
01:11He is set to become Chief of Defence Forces, a newly created title that oversees the army,
01:16the Navy, and the Air Force.
01:18A new position of Chief of Defence is allocated to our Field Marshal.
01:27And I think this was very important to have more combination and coordination between our
01:31forces.
01:32Under the amendment, five-star officers like Munir will now retain their rank and privileges
01:40for life, remain in uniform, and enjoy permanent immunity from criminal proceedings.
01:59Besides expanding the powers of the army chief, a new court will also be established.
02:05It will operate above the current Supreme Court, which will be reduced to handling civilian and
02:09criminal cases.
02:11Under the amendment, constitutional cases will be moved to a new Federal Constitutional Court.
02:16I think these amendments also benefit for the public and the government too, because we
02:23want to provide the SPD trial to the general public.
02:29That's why we divided the Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court.
02:35Much of the time was wasted was being in discussions in the Supreme Court on constitutional matters.
02:48Of course, those are important matters.
02:50But you see the public, general public and other cases of civil and foidari, those were also
03:02important and more and more cases, we would have now time for the Supreme Court to hear those
03:10cases.
03:11And those will be settled because it takes a long time, about 20 or 25 years, just to
03:17finalize those cases.
03:19The government will be responsible for selecting the judges who sit on the new court.
03:24Critics argue the changes undermine the independence of the judiciary.
03:29And the second thing is that judiciary, which is the basis for any democracy, we feel that
03:36judiciary will be further weakened by these amendments.
03:39And if you don't have a strong and independent judiciary, how can the state flourish?
03:46Pakistan's 27th amendment was also passed at a pace that surprised many.
03:52Such amendments normally require weeks or months of consideration.
03:56But this one sailed through within days.
04:00First, Pakistan's upper house passed the amendment bill on November the 10th.
04:04Just two days later, it was approved by a two-thirds majority in the lower house after the opposition
04:10boycotted the session.
04:12President Asif Ali Zardari signed it into the law the following day.
04:16The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also questioned the need for such urgency.
04:36The government's haste, including the absence of any meaningful consultation with the political
04:41opposition, the wider legal fraternity, and civil society calls into question the very intention
04:47behind moving this amendment bill.
04:50Despite the criticism, Prime Minister Shabazz Sharif hailed the constitutional amendment as
04:55a step towards institutional harmony and national unity.
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