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JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Friday that his party would oppose any proposed amendment that seeks to reduce the powers granted to the provinces under the 18th Amendment. “The provinces have a constitutional right to an increased NFC (National Finance Commission) award, not a reduced one,” he said, warning that if provincial rights were stripped, the JUI-F would “strongly oppose it.” Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Fazl said his party had agreed on certain points in principle, but would only comment further once a draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment was presented. Commenting on proposed changes to Article 243, he said the matter must be viewed in two ways: “If it is used to affect democracy, the Constitution or politics, we will not accept it. But if it is purely administrative, we will review it first and then decide.” He added that nothing was being resolved at the moment because the country was relying too heavily on one institution. “Until we adopt collective thinking, nothing will be fixed,” he said, urging dialogue among parliament, its security committee, and all stakeholders to reach a consensus. Referring to the 26th Amendment, the JUI-F chief said that during that process, parliament’s engagement had led to the government withdrawing 35 clauses from the draft. “We should not repeat practices that raise questions about parliament’s representation of the people,” he cautioned. He stressed the need for “natural lawmaking” rather than hurried or self-serving legislation. “We make unusual laws that society rejects. We must avoid misusing our authority,” he said. On the pace of the amendment process, Fazl noted that the 18th Amendment had been passed through a consensus-driven, months-long process. “When this [27th Amendment] comes forward, we will see how long it takes,” he said, adding that there was no current plan to meet PPP leaders to discuss the matter. Separately, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary party has rejected 27th Constitutional Amendment, terming it suspicious and unacceptable. The decision was taken during a parliamentary party meeting chaired by Senate Parliamentary Leader Senator Ali Zafar. Senators Allama Nasir Abbas, Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Falak Naz, Dr. Humayun Mehmood, and others attended the session. During the meeting, the PTI formulated its strategy for the upcoming Senate session. The party announced that it will protest against the exclusion of cases involving PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse from being heard in the higher judiciary. In an official statement, the PTI parliamentary party accused the ruling coalition, including the PML-N, PPP, and their allies, of bypassing constitutional and ethical norms by bulldozing legislation. The party argued that the amendment undermines parliamentary principles by sidelining the opposition and poses a threat to fundamental human rights. It also expressed serious concern over attempts to curtail the independence and powers of the judiciary. The statement further criticized delays in notifying the Senate opposition leader and demanded the immediate issuance of the notification for Allama Nasir Abbas, who was nominated by the PTI founder. To strengthen opposition against the amendment, the party has assigned its members the task of reaching out to independent senators.
