Islamabad, Pakistan – The latest point of contention between the government and the opposition in Pakistan has been planned constitutional changes that reportedly aim to give the executive more power over the judiciary.

After a weekend of intense political activity in the capital Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government failed to persuade the opposition to support its “constitutional package,” as Pakistan’s leadership and the media call the series of constitutional changes.

However, the government insists that proposals to amend the constitution remain on the table.

The opposition, led primarily by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has sharply criticised the proposed reforms, calling them “unconstitutional” and saying that neither it nor the media had been shown a draft of the proposed changes.

Here is a breakdown of the main proposals, the number of votes in Parliament needed to pass them, and the reasons why the opposition refused to cooperate:

What changes are proposed?

According to opposition parties and local media reports, the government’s package includes more than 50 proposals, most of which concern the judiciary.

One of the most important proposals is the creation of a new Federal Constitutional Court alongside the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court would deal exclusively with petitions relating to the interpretation of constitutional provisions.

The proposed changes also include raising the retirement age of the judges of the planned Constitutional Court to 68. Other judges will retire at 65. In addition, the term of office of a constitutional judge should not exceed three years.

Judges in other courts are not subject to term limits beyond the upper limit set by retirement age.

Under the proposals, the chief judge of the Constitutional Court would be appointed by the president, the nominal head of state, on the recommendation of the prime minister. Appointments to the Supreme Court are currently made by a judicial commission, which examines the most senior judges of the Supreme Court and makes recommendations to a parliamentary committee, which must confirm them.

Another key proposal is to revise a controversial Supreme Court ruling from May 2022 that an MP’s individual vote against the party line will not be counted. The amendments aim to overturn this ruling by allowing MPs to deviate from their party line when voting in Parliament.

What are the numbers in Parliament?

Under Pakistani law, constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.

The lower house, the so-called National Assembly, has 336 seats, while the Senate, the upper house, has 96 seats. The government needs at least 224 votes in the National Assembly and 64 in the Senate to get its package through.

But Sharif’s coalition government could only muster 214 votes in the National Assembly, and together with eight more votes from the non-ruling Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam–Fazal (JUI-F) party, it would still miss the 224-vote mark by two votes.

In the Senate, the government has 57 senators and needs at least seven more. Even if five more JUI-F senators were added, it would not reach this number.

Irfan Siddiqui, a lawmaker in the ruling coalition, downplayed the government’s inability to get the votes needed to pass the changes., This suggests that it was only a matter of time before the numbers could be managed.

“It may take a week or 10 days for the constitutional amendments to be submitted to Parliament for approval. I don’t see any problem in that and it’s not the end of the world,” he told reporters on Monday.

Are the changes directed against the PTI?

Both the government and the PTI are trying to win over the JUI-F MPs in this dispute.

PTI chairman Sayed Zulfi Bukhari said the delay in presenting the constitutional package showed that the government lacked the necessary votes, otherwise it would have “rushed through” the changes.

“They are in a hurry to pass the amendments to ensure that the current Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who retires next month, becomes the chief judge of the newly proposed Constitutional Court, which would override all other courts,” he told Al Jazeera.

Bukhari said his party was against the proposed changes, which could render the judiciary “toothless” by curtailing its independence.

“Ultimately, the only purpose of all these constitutional amendments is to somehow ban the PTI and bring Imran Khan’s case to a military court,” he said. Essentially, the PTI’s argument boils down to the claim that by selecting judges for a new court that will be allowed to decide constitutional issues – including the fate of political parties – the government wants to increase its chances of getting legal support for action against the PTI and Khan.

Khan was detained in August last year on a number of charges, including inciting unrest in May that year that led to widespread violence and attacks on government and military buildings. Although his convictions have been either overturned or suspended on most counts, the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician remains in detention despite what several human rights groups have called “arbitrary” detention.

Moreover, recent indications from the government and military that Khan could now be tried in a secret military court have further angered the PTI, which has renewed its protests and demanded his immediate release.

Earlier this month, PTI lawyers filed a petition to block the request to bring Khan’s case to a military court, but legal experts told Al Jazeera that under current law, the military can request the transfer of a civilian under certain circumstances.

What do the experts say?

Some Pakistani analysts say the proposed changes, if adopted, could alter the balance of power between the executive and judicial branches.

Islamabad-based political analyst Ahmed Ijaz told Al Jazeera that amending the constitution was a “serious task” and required careful consideration, which he said was not happening amid the ongoing political wrangling.

“The government’s urgency has raised concerns and the PTI’s stance is understandable,” he said.

Political analyst Benazir Shah also pointed out the timing of the proposals: the current Chief Justice retires next month.

“This indicates attempts to manipulate the appointment process or block the appointment of the next Chief Justice. Moreover, if the amendments are passed, it would weaken the power of the Supreme Court,” Shah told Al Jazeera from Lahore.

She further said that the creation of a Constitutional Court would also transfer powers that traditionally belong to the Supreme Court, such as banning political parties or dealing with cases involving federal and provincial governments.

“Interestingly, while the proposed amendments are aimed at curtailing the power of the Supreme Court, they appear to grant an important exception to the military. The amendments would (reportedly) prevent high courts from issuing orders against army officers in matters of national security,” Shah said.

The military is the most powerful institution in Pakistan. It has ruled the country directly for almost thirty years and also exerts considerable influence on the civilian governments.