Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has confirmed that the government has decided to review the 18th constitutional amendment and for that consultation would be conducted with the provinces and political parties.”
“Time will tell what will be the result of the consultations. There are questions on the implementation of 18th amendment,” he said while talking to 24News TV channel.
Shah Mehmood said that provinces took incentives from the centre and increased the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award but did not distribute the resources at the grass root level.
“The NFC award is coming and before that consultations must be done on 18th amendment so that provinces must show some responsibility on the source mobilization and distribution of resources among the centre and provinces.”
Opposition parties including PPP and PML-N have shown resistance on the PTI’s government move to review the 19th amendment.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said the federal government could not get itself relieved from the responsibility of formulating a comprehensive strategy to tackle the coronavirus through a wrong interpretation of 18th Amendment. In an interview to BBC Urdu, Bilawal said the PTI-led federal government instead of working together with the province was trying to sabotage the good work done by Sindh.
PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal on Monday warned that the 18th Amendment was a consensus national document and any attempt to alter that would generate new conflicts. In a statement, Ahsan, addressing the government, said the amendment was passed jointly by all the political parties in the Parliament. “What is the purpose of creating new disputes at a time when the nation is facing multiple crises?” Ahsan questioned.
It is pertinent to mention that 18th was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on April 8, 2010. Out of 342 Members of National Assembly, 292 voted in favour of the 18th Amendment. The amendment bill was passed by the Senate of Pakistan on April 15, 2010, and it became an act of parliament after President Asif Ali Zardari signature the bill on April 19, 2010.
The amendment removed the powers of the President of Pakistan to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally and turned Pakistan from a semi-presidential to a parliamentary republic and returned the powers back to parliament by removing Article 58(2)(b) that gave the president of Pakistan the power to sack an elected prime minister.
Maulana Fazal phones opposition leaders
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) party leader Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman on Monday contacted Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, Chairmen Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) Mehmood Khan Achakzai, and Awami National Party leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain to discuss the possible reaction of opposition on the government’s move to review the 18th constitutional amendment.
Maulana Fazal ur Rehman vowed to resist any move to change the 18th constitutional amendment that gave provincial autonomy on many subjects.