Special committee ‘unanimously’ approves constitutional draft: Khurshid Shah

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party MNA Syed Khurshid Shah has claimed that the special committee of the parliament has unanimously approved the draft of the proposed constitutional amendment during the final round of its meeting.

The draft will be presented in the cabinet meeting tomorrow.

Following the meeting, Khurshid Shah told the media confirming the unanimous approval of the draft of the proposed constitutional amendment.

He also said that the committee also reached a consensus to allow overseas Pakistanis to contest elections.

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Notably, the proposals from some coalition parties were excluded from the draft. The ANP boycotted the meeting, while PTI and JUI-F opposed the draft.

The meeting was held at the Parliament House and was attended by key figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Law Minister Nazeer Tarar, PTI’s Aamir Dogar, JUI-F’s Shahida Akhtar Ali, PML-N’s Irfan Siddiqui, MQM’s Aminul Haque, PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf and Sherry Rehman, along with Rana Tanveer, Senator Anusha Rehman, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Ejazul Haque, Khalid Hussain Magsi, and others.

At the start of the parliamentary special committee meeting, PTI member Aamir Dogar expressed strong reservations, stating, “Constitutional amendments are the government’s responsibility. We are facing immense pressure, with some of our members in hiding. Boundaries are being crossed, and legislation is being forced through. Even Maulana Fazlur Rehman supports our position.”

The Awami National Party’s (ANP) proposed amendment, which sought to rename the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by removing “Khyber” and adopting “Pakhtunkhwa,” was dropped from the draft.

Sources confirmed that ANP boycotted the meeting in protest, with ANP leader Aimal Wali Khan absent after the exclusion of this clause.

Despite these objections, the committee approved the joint draft, which excluded the proposals from coalition parties. Both PTI and JUI-F opposed the final draft.