The main modification in the changes is on the position of Pakistan's Chief Justice, who will now be nominated by a legislative committee and have a three-year term. This action represents a major break from the past arrangement in which the senior-most judge would inevitably assume the position of Chief Justice. Under the reforms, also a new constitutional bench will be created.

Asif Khawaja, the minister of defense, said that the main objective of the administration is to uphold the sovereignty of parliament and that the revisions are meant to prevent judicial rulings that "interferes in parliament". Reflecting a consensus on preserving legislative sovereignty, he underlined that the revisions had attracted great support from many political groupings, including minor religious ones. "Everybody agrees we won't compromise on the supremacy of the parliament," Khawaja remarked.

Supported by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and a religious party allied with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party managed to get the revisions passed. The biggest opposition bloc in parliament, the PTI, turned down to endorse the changes, nevertheless. PTI officials rejected the offer to soften down the revisions, arguing the changes compromise the independence of the court, although efforts to achieve a consensus.

Leading National Assembly member Omar Ayub Khan strongly opposed the changes during the parliamentary session. "These changes resemble stifling a free court. They do not reflect Pakistani people, he said. Declaring that a government created by claimed electoral manipulation should not have authority to change the constitution, PTI members have labelled the modifications as undemocratic.

The modifications coincide with a pivotal point, only a few days before Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa retires. Under the former system, Mansoor Ali Shah, the next top judge, would have succeeded Isa; he is well-known for rendering decisions that support PTI and its leader, Imran Khan. Therefore, the modifications seem to stop the automatic succession of judges thought to be aligned with Khan's political group, so aggravating conflicts between the government and the opposition.

Reactions from analysts to the new modifications have been conflicted. Head of Pakistan's top polling organization, Bilal Gilani said that although the revisions answer some justified worries about judicial activity, they also seem to make the court more open to political control. Gilani said, reflecting general worries that the changes would compromise the independence of the court, "a more sinister side of this amendment creates a judiciary that is more pliable with the concerns of the government."

The tense relationship between Pakistan's political elite and its court has a lengthy and convoluted background. In high-profile cases such the disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and decisions challenging government authority, the court has become increasingly important recently, Declaring that it was improper to exclude PTI candidates from the election over technological flaws, the Supreme Court decided against the Election Commission of Pakistan in July. The court also granted PTI some non-elected seats set out for women and religious minorities, therefore providing Khan's party with a majority going forward.

The ratification of these amendments has exacerbated political differences in Pakistan and generated questions regarding the direction of its democratic institutions, Six high court judges have openly accused Pakistan's intelligence agencies of coercion earlier this year, so setting the scene against which the judicial changes take place—growing claims that the agencies have tried to influence politically relevant court cases. The balance of power among Pakistan's several departments of government is probably going to remain a divisive topic as the country enters an unknown political future.

Pakistan approves amendments limiting interference in parliamentary affairs

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