Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry speaks to reporters outside Parliament in Islamabad on October 9, 2025.
FAISALABAD:
Despite the backlash from the judiciary, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Sunday that the ruling coalition was ready to introduce a new constitutional amendment if necessary to “maintain stability” in the country, asserting that Parliament alone had the mandate to reshape the Constitution.
Speaking to reporters in Faisalabad, the PML-N leader said the 26th and 27th amendments had brought “stability” and more changes could follow if necessary.
“If another amendment is necessary to maintain this stability, we will certainly do it with other parties,” he said. “Parliament will make amendments whenever it wants, and parliament should do so. Parliament should be seen as a parliament.”
Responding to a question, Chaudhry called recent resignations of senior judges following the amendments “political,” saying the departures were not motivated by principle but partisanship.
He asserted that amending the Constitution was the exclusive right of the legislature.
“Judges take oath under the Constitution; they do not constitute a political party and they will resign if the Constitution is amended,” he said. “The Constitution will not conform to the wishes of them (the judges), but to those of the parliament and the people of Pakistan.”
He went on to say that “everything about (judges) – from their salaries to their decisions – is decided by parliament”, arguing that those who resigned had been “biased” and had made “political” judgments.
Chaudhry also criticized the past conduct of the judiciary, referring to former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial’s remark to Imran Khan during the trial last year. “There have been many extensions of ‘good to see you,’ but the environment is no longer the same,” he joked.
The state minister criticized the judiciary’s “excessive use of suo motu powers”, saying judges had used them “to send prime ministers home” and to target governments at will.
Commenting on the PTI’s decision to boycott the upcoming by-elections in Faisalabad, he said the party avoided elections “wherever there was considerable opposition”.
The state minister’s statement comes three days after the 27th Amendment was signed into law following the approval of both houses of Parliament, despite strong resistance from opposition parties.
On November 13, the day the amendment was passed, Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah submitted their resignations, denouncing the legislation as an “attack” on the Constitution and a measure that weakened the judiciary.
A day later, Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza resigned from the Lahore High Court, also citing the amendment, and more resignations may follow at the Islamabad High Court.
