Faisalabad, November 15, 2025 — Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Saturday that the ruling coalition was open to introducing yet another constitutional amendment if required to “maintain stability” in the country, days after the controversial 27th Amendment was enacted into law.
Speaking to reporters in Faisalabad, the PML-N leader defended the recently passed 26th and 27th Amendments — which the opposition has strongly protested — insisting that both had contributed to “stability”.
“If another amendment is needed to maintain this stability, we will definitely bring it together with other parties,” Chaudhry said. “Parliament will bring amendments whenever it wants, and the parliament should be seen as a parliament.”
Chaudhry criticised the recent wave of resignations from senior members of the superior judiciary, calling them “political”.
On November 13, the day the 27th Amendment became law, Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah stepped down, condemning the amendment as an attack on the Constitution that undermines judicial independence. A day later, Lahore High Court judge Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza also resigned, citing the same reasons. More resignations may follow at the Islamabad High Court.
The minister argued that constitutional amendments were the exclusive right of parliament and dismissed judges’ objections.
“Judges take oath under the Constitution; they are not a political party that they will resign if the Constitution is amended,” he said. “The Constitution will not be as per their wishes, but of the parliament and the people of Pakistan.”
He further claimed that “every single thing” related to judges — from salaries to judicial powers — was determined by the legislature.
Chaudhry also accused the departing judges of bias and of issuing politically motivated rulings.
“There have been many extensions of ‘good to see you’, but the environment is not the same anymore,” he remarked, referring to former CJP Umar Ata Bandial’s widely criticised greeting to former prime minister Imran Khan in May 2023.
The minister said senior judges had “misused” suo motu powers — now curtailed under the 27th Amendment — to “send prime ministers home” and interfere in governance without justification.
Responding to a question about the PTI’s boycott of the upcoming by-elections in Faisalabad, Chaudhry said the party was avoiding contests where it faced tough competition.
By-elections on two National Assembly seats (NA-96, NA-104) and three Punjab Assembly constituencies (PP-98, PP-115, PP-116) are scheduled for November 23.
Chaudhry said the PML-N was poised to sweep all five seats due to the PTI’s boycott, the recent ban on the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), and the PPP’s decision not to field candidates.
