Islamabad, November 7, 2025: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday warned that his party would strongly oppose any proposed constitutional amendment seeking to curtail the powers granted to provinces under the 18th Amendment.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Fazl said the provinces had a constitutional right to an increased share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, not a reduced one.
“If provincial rights are stripped, the JUI-F will strongly oppose it,” he declared. The JUI-F chief said his party had agreed to certain points “in principle” but would issue a detailed response once the draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment was presented. Commenting on the government’s proposal to amend Article 243, Fazl said it should be examined carefully.
“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 stated.
He criticised what he called the country’s overreliance on one institution, urging collective national decision-making. “Until we adopt collective thinking, nothing will be fixed,” he said, calling for dialogue among parliament, its security committee, and all stakeholders.
Fazl also cautioned against what he termed “unnatural lawmaking”, saying that legislation should emerge through consensus rather than haste or political expediency. “We make unusual laws that society rejects. We must avoid misusing our authority,” he added.
Referring to the process behind the 18th Amendment, he reminded that it had been passed through a months-long consultative effort. “When this [27th Amendment] comes forward, we will see how long it takes,” he said. Fazl said there was currently no plan to meet Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders on the matter.
