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President Asif Ali Zardari gave his assent to the contentious 27th Constitutional Amendment on Thursday, enacting it into law. The summary signed by the president, a copy of which is available with Dawn, states: “The Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2025, is assented to, as advised by the prime minister, at para 5 of the summary.” Meanwhile, sources told Dawn that the president was expected to administer the oath to the chief justice of the Federal Constitutional Court — the establishment of which would now be realised after the enactment of the 27th Amendment bill — tomorrow at the Presidency. Senate’s approval The president’s assent to the legislation came hours after the Senate approved the bill for the amendment after voting on it for a second time amid the opposition’s protest. Announcing the result, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani said 64 votes had been cast in favour of the bill and four against it. “So the motion is carried by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate, and consequently, the bill stands passed.” The house first voted on the bill clause by clause and then by division. While clause-by-clause voting was under way, slogans of aain ki tabahi, na manzoor (destruction of the Constitution, unacceptable) filled the house, prompting Gilani to say at one point, “No slogans”. The bill was initially presented in the Senate for voting on Monday and passed the same day. It was then referred to the NA, which approved it with some amendments yesterday. Therefore, the proposed legislation was again presented in the Senate today to consider the latest changes. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar again tabled the bill in the upper house of Parliament today. Elaborating on the changes and the bill’s salient features, he said the incumbent chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) would continue to hold this post until he held the office. Following his retirement, he said, the senior one among the top-most judges of the Supreme Court and the planned Federal Constitutional Court would have the title of the CJP. He added that according to the proposed amendment, the CJP would administer the oath to the president, chief election commissioner and auditor general for Pakistan. Detailing changes to Article 6 of the Constitution, which deals with the subject of treason, he said the provision would now read: “Any court in Pakistan, be it the Federal Constitutional Court that will now, God willing, be established, the Supreme Court or high courts, cannot validate the abrogation of [of the Constitution].” This was akin to blocking martial laws and upholding democracy, he argued. Speaking against the proposed amendment, PTI Senator Ali Zafar criticised the government for its “haste”. “They want to establish their constitutional court at the earliest so that they can control it. And the reason behind the haste is the fear of one person, who is in jail a few miles away from here,” Zafar alleged. He further stated that the 27th Amendment was based on “deceit and fraud”, asserting that the proposed legislation did not have the people’s support. “The very foundation of the 27th Amendment is based on fraud and deception, and this building is going to fall,” he warned. The matter of defection Immediately after Tarar tabled the bill in the Senate, Senator Zafar had highlighted that the house would be voting for the second time on the constitutional amendment. The amendment, he said, would need the support of a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which meant at least 64 votes. He recalled that during the first instance of voting, PTI’s Saifullah Abro and another senator from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) had voted in favour of the amendment and against the party line. After casting his vote, Abro had announced his resignation on the floor of the house. Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani was asked about it while he was speaking to the media at Parliament today morning. In his response, Gilani said after formally receiving Abro’s resignation in writing, he would call him and maybe, “I am able to convince him”. Later, PTI’s Zafar pointed out to him in the Senate that the defection by Abro led to the application of Article 63-A, which stipulated that Abro stood disqualified. Moreover, he said, Abro had also announced his resignation. In light of these developments, he requested that the votes of the defecting senator not be counted. “Otherwise, we will have to challenge this entire process,” he said.