The federal government tabled the constitutional amendment in the National Assembly on Sunday.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar introduced the amendment bill in the National Assembly.

Nawaz Sharif, PM Shehbaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were all present in the Assembly when the bill was introduced.

The session was adjourned just before midnight for around 10 minutes, to reconvene at 12:05 am.

Independent candidates Zahoor Qureshi, Mubarak Zeb and Usman Ali were brought into the National Assembly after the session had begun. PML-Q backed Chaudhry Ilyas was also seen sitting in the treasury benches.

All four members will reportedly vote for the constitutional amendment.

Govt still 5 members short

The ruling coalition in the National Assembly needs 224 votes to pass the constitutional amendment, but currently holds only 211 seats.

This includes: 111 PML-N, 69 PPP, 22 MQM, 5 Q-League, 4 IPP, and one each from PML-Zia, Balochistan Awami Party, and the National Party.

With three coalition members facing references, the total is 211. Including the support of 8 JUI members, the total rises to 219, leaving the government needing an additional 5 votes to pass the amendment.

The opposition holds 80 seats from the Sunni Ittehad Council, 8 PTI-supported independents, and one each from the Balochistan National Party, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.

Therefore, the government needs 2 additional votes from the opposition to secure passage of the amendment.

The Senate previously passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment with a two-thirds majority. The amendment will now be presented to the National Assembly.

In the Senate, the amendment received 58 votes from the government, 5 from JUI-F, and 2 from the Balochistan National Party. PTI, Sunni Ittehad Council, and MWM members left the Senate chamber during the clause-by-clause approval of the amendment.