The Pakistan Peoples Party and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) reached a consensus on a shared draft of the much-discussed constitutional amendments on Tuesday.

“As a result of the consensus we have reached today, there is a need to have more consensus. Tomorrow [Wednesday], Maulana Fazlur Rehman Sb will meet Nawaz Sharif at Raiwand [in Lahore. We also have been invited to the dinner,” PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, along with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said while addressing a press conference in Karachi on Tuesday.

Described as the “26th Constitutional Amendment”, the intended legislation was set to propose a fixed three-year tenure for the chief justice of Pakistan and form a constitutional court.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman rejected the proposed constitutional amendments on September 18 and laid out his party’s stance on the issue. But he has supported the demand for constitutional courts without any person-specific legislation.

Many legal experts are concerned that such proposed changes could undermine the independence of the judiciary by limiting the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to only civil and criminal appeals or petitions.

A three-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa would hear a petition that challenges the government’s proposed constitutional amendments on October 17.

“We will try that the PML-N will agree with us and Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s wish is that this agreement is not limited to coalition partners but with the PTI and other political parties in the opposition. If this happens, it will support our legislation,” Bilawal said and prayed that the religio-political leader succeed in such efforts.

The PPP claimed that their purpose was not “person-specific” or “bound by any time limit”. He added that they were focused on resolving people’s issues and doing it for the betterment of people.

While citing the agreement as “good news”, he stated that all issues were resolved through consensus.

He expressed hope that both sides would continue working together in the future.

When asked about the points on which issues were resolved, Bilawal said that it would not be appropriate to share it with the media before meeting Nawaz.

In response to a question, Fazl said that the PPP also made a draft “quite similar” to the one made by the JUI-F. “Today, we found those ways where we had differences and we tried to resolve that.”

Bilawal clarified that he was not in haste to pass the bill and he had been waiting for the opportunity “since 2006.”

He added: “Today’s draft should be understood as that the PPP and the JUI-F are on the same page.”

Fazl added that the two parties were thinking about the country, not just any particular party or person.

Bilawal said that he has not backed away from his demands for a truth and reconciliation forum, NAB reforms, and judicial reforms.