On paper, the 27th Constitutional Amendment is 59 clauses of dense legalese. In practice, it reads like a character study of three people: a jailed former cricket hero, his mystic wife, and a general-turned-field marshal who now enjoys lifetime immunity.
TL;DR Driving the newsOn November 14, 2025, Pakistan enacted the 27th Constitutional Amendment - a sweeping legal overhaul that granted lifetime immunity to President Asif Ali Zardari and Field Marshal
Asim Munir, while transforming the judiciary into an executive-led structure.
Two Supreme Court judges resigned. Opposition parties stormed out of Parliament. And somewhere in a prison cell in Adiala,
Imran Khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician, began writing a letter - alone, without books or newspapers.
What changed: The 27th Amendment
Passed in five days without broad consultation, the amendment:- Created a new Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) - removing constitutional jurisdiction from the Supreme Court.
- Gave the president power to transfer judges - effectively coercing judicial loyalty.
- Handed lifetime immunity to the president and military chiefs - beyond the reach of courts.
- Eliminated the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs and established a Chief of Defence Forces - placing all services under Field Marshal Asim Munir.
“Parliament has done what previous dictators could only dream of,” said legal analyst Mirza Moiz Baig.
“This is autocratic legalism,” warned Aqil Shah of Georgetown University. “In no other democracy is the army chief of staff the designated joint service chief,” Shah told AFP.
Why it matters
The 27th Amendment isn’t just constitutional tinkering. It represents:
- A civilian-military consolidation of power unseen since the days of General Pervez Musharraf.
- The official death of judicial independence, according to resigning justices and legal experts.
- A reshuffling of Pakistan's political DNA - where the army writes the script, judges act the scenes, and a veiled mystic, Bushra Bibi, remains a ghost in the wings.
- “We are facing completely uncharted territory,” warned constitutional lawyer Asad Rahim Khan.
In a scathing editorial, Dawn argued that “with this, the separation of powers and basic structure established by the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan - which envisioned an independent judiciary and armed forces subservient to the civilian dispensation - now stands terminated.” It noted the irony that “instead of the military, an independent judiciary has been amended away into a subservient department of the executive branch.”
“The funeral rites for the judiciary have been performed,” said the editorial.
The big picture: A triangle of power
Pakistan’s new regime is no longer about parties. It’s now a triumvirate:
- Field Marshal Asim Munir: commander of all armed services, architect of the new order.
- Imran Khan: jailed, disqualified, but symbolically invincible.
- Bushra Bibi: spiritual advisor-turned-political wife, whose journey from Pakpattan to Islamabad may yet reshape the battlefield.
- Together - or more accurately, against each other - they define Pakistan’s struggle between civilian populism, military dominance, and spiritual mysticism.
The new triumvirate: The general, the pirni & the cricketer
Asim Munir: The new pharaohMunir rose through the ranks as quartermaster general and Corps Commander Gujranwala, then as head of Military Intelligence and, eventually, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). In 2019 he was removed as intelligence chief “just eight months into his stint, under then-prime minister Imran Khan and for reasons that have never been made public.”
That sacking is widely seen in Pakistan as the first major clash between Munir and Imran Khan.
Now elevated to Field Marshal, Asim Munir controls:
- All armed services via the new title Chief of Defence Forces
- The nuclear command (transferred from civilians)
- His own legal protection, via lifetime immunity
- Parliament, by proxy of pliant coalitions
“He probably has as much power as Musharraf,” said military analyst Shuja Nawaz. “Like Musharraf, he has a subservient prime minister and the authority to reshape the army's structure,” Nawaz told AFP.
And unlike Musharraf, Munir doesn’t wear the scars of a military coup - he wears constitutional legitimacy.
“Field marshals don't retire. They may leave a post, but they remain field marshal for life.”
Shuja Nawaz on Munir
Imran Khan: Popularity in captivity
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan - held in solitary confinement, his party symbol banned, and facing dozens of legal cases - still commands unmatched national support.
- His party, despite rigging, won 93 out of 266 seats in 2024 elections.
- His speeches are censored, yet his words circulate like sacred scripture.
- His rivals - from Shehbaz Sharif to Zardari - struggle to match his moral authority.
“He is still seen as Pakistan’s moral sovereign,” noted a leading historian.
But behind bars, choices are narrowing. Some in PTI want compromise. Bushra Bibi, too, is reportedly inclined toward negotiation.
Bushra Bibi: The mystic in the mirror
As per a profile of Bushra Bibi in the Economist, by the mid-2010s, Imran Khan was at a personal and political low. Then came the introduction to Bushra Manika, a middle-aged woman from Punjab with a reputation as a Sufi-inclined spiritual guide. Their relationship began with late-night phone calls, before turning into visits to her family home in Pakpattan. According to 1843, Bushra’s then-husband, Khawar Manika, initially enjoyed the glamour but became uneasy as his wife’s intimacy with Khan grew. He recalled asking: “Why can’t we sit together?” and described walking into rooms to find conversations abruptly cut short.
Manika later told 1843 that his wife had shared a prophecy with Khan: if they married, he would become prime minister. She divorced Manika at the end of 2017 and married Khan in a secret ceremony on January 1st 2018. Khan later told a British newspaper, “Sufism is an order with many levels, but I have never met anyone who is as high as my wife.”
As per the Economist, few first ladies in modern history have combined veiled mysticism, political access, and whispered intrigue quite like Bushra Bibi.
Once a pirni from Pakpattan, she:
- Predicted Khan’s rise to power - prompting their 2018 secret marriage.
- Selected cabinet appointments by reading photographs.
“Her interference was absolute,” a member of Imran Khan’s cabinet told the Economist.
“He cannot see beyond that Sufi halo she carries around her,” added close friend Salman Ahmad.
The ISI angle
Per the Economist’s reporting, ISI officers allegedly used a pir to funnel intelligence to Bushra, who then passed it to Khan as revelations from dreams - reinforcing her mystical power and his trust in her.
“Faiz was feeding information to Bushra Bibi through her pir,” confirmed ex-ally Faisal Vawda.
“That’s how Khan started getting blinded.”
But what the spy agency built, it later dismantled. When Khan sacked Asim Munir as ISI chief in 2019, allegedly after he raised corruption concerns about Bushra, the seeds of retaliation were planted.
Bushra behind bars
Bushra Bibi now shares Khan’s fate - imprisoned, silenced, and at the center of three separate cases:
- Unlawful marriage (violating the Islamic waiting period)
- Saudi gifts corruption scandal
- Land deal redirection for an Islamic university
- Yet none of these - even when supported by leaked audios and courtroom theatrics - have cracked public perception.
“Bushra has not made herself my weakness,” Khan said from his cell. “Her bravery has made me stronger.”Between the lines
- This is not just a crisis of governance - it’s a recasting of Pakistan’s founding vision.
- From constitutional democracy to executive-military command
- From judicial review to judicial obedience
- From public representation to spiritual symbolism
“No ordinary Pakistani will remain unaffected,” Dawn warned.
“When the state is tried by a court that it has hand-picked, the citizen will lose every time.”
What’s next
This crisis leaves Pakistan at a crossroads:
- Munir had been due to retire in 2027. Now, he is set to oversee the 2028 elections, installing loyalist judges and neutering opposition.
- What if Khan compromises - freeing himself and Bushra in exchange for political silence.
- Then there is the risk of popular backlash erupting-driven by youth, lawyers, and civil society.
- For now, the regime holds the cards. But as with every overreach in Pakistan’s history - from Zia to Musharraf - backlash often comes not as revolution, but as decay.
Bottom line
This isn’t just about one amendment, or one general, or one mystic wife. It’s about a state remade in secret, then rubber-stamped in Parliament, where:
- The Field Marshal cannot be arrested
- The Supreme Court cannot speak
- The President cannot be questioned
- And the people’s vote barely matters
But still, whispers from prison echo across Pakistan - from Khan’s letters to Bushra’s mysticism and protests.
(With inputs from agencies)