Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is expected to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to discuss the country’s political situation and the 27th Constitutional Amendment, a statement by JUI-F said.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman will be accompanied by Maulana Rashid Soomro, Mufti Abrar Ahmed and others.

Earlier today, after getting approval from the federal cabinet, the bill for the 27th Constitutional Amendment was tabled before the Senate and subsequently referred to the standing committees on law and justice.

However, during the session of the standing committees, two JUI-F members, Aliya Kamran and Senator Kamran Murtaza, boycotted the meeting and said the proposed draft included amendments that were discarded in the 26th Amendment bill.

Yesterday, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that his party would oppose any proposed amendment that seeks to reduce the powers granted to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.

“The provinces have a constitutional right to an increased NFC (National Finance Commission) award, not a reduced one,” he had stated, warning that if provincial rights were stripped, the JUI-F would “strongly oppose it.”

The JUI-F chief’s statement came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held consultations with ruling allies to secure support for the controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment.

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad a day earlier, Fazl said his party had agreed on certain points in principle, but would only comment further once a draft of the 27th Constitutional Amendment was presented.

Commenting on proposed changes to Article 243, he said the matter must be viewed in two ways: “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.”

The PPP, a major ally of the ruling PML-N-led government, on Thursday also drew a red line against any change to the provinces’ share under the NFC while indicating conditional support for limited amendments to Article 243 governing federal control of the armed forces.