Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui has been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital in Islamabad due to respiratory complications, his family confirmed on Monday. The development comes at a critical time, as the 27th Constitutional Amendment bill is scheduled to be presented in the Senate today.

Senator Siddiqui, a senior PML-N leader known for his active role in parliamentary affairs, was expected to cast his vote during the session. However, due to his health condition, he is now likely to miss the proceedings.

A day earlier, a joint parliamentary committee, including legislators from both the Senate and the National Assembly’s standing committees on law and justice, approved the full draft of the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment bill. The committee, chaired by Senator Farooq H Naek and MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, gave clause-by-clause approval to 49 proposed amendments.

According to the agenda, Senator Farooq H Naek will present the standing committee’s report on the bill, after which the law minister will move it for approval in the Upper House. However, several opposition parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), and Majlis-e-Wahdatul-Muslimeen (MWM), boycotted the session, with their members absent from the committee meeting.

The Senate session to discuss and pass the 27th Constitutional Amendment is scheduled for 11 am today. With key lawmakers absent due to health or political reasons, attention now turns to how the voting will proceed amid a highly charged political environment.