Sherpao rejects PM’s remarks on 18th Amendment

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Tuesday rejected the statement of Prime Minister Imran Khan that the 18th Amendment had bankrupted the federation, saying it had nothing to do with the distribution of resources among the provinces.

In a statement, he said, "The resources are distributed among the provinces under the National Finance Commission Award. The 18th Amendment has got nothing to do with it." Aftab Sherpao said the country was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the ill-conceived policies of the incumbent government. He said the economic managers of the government had miserably failed to improve the economic condition of the country.

Warning against any bid to undo the 18th Amendment, he said that those dreaming to roll back the 18th Amendment lived in a fool's paradise. He maintained the provinces secured provincial autonomy as a result of the landmark 18th Amendment and nobody would be allowed to undo it. "The prime minister is issuing such controversial statements to distract the attention of the nation from the real issues," he alleged, adding the QWP would strongly resist the bid to roll back the 18th Amendment.

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for its proposed plan to abolish the district tier of the local government system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said the rulers had termed it the best when it was introduced.

He said the PTI government had introduced the KP Local Government Act to delegate powers to the grassroots, but now it was going to abolish the district tier which was a violation of the Constitution. Aftab Sherpao said the government had burdened the people by increasing the electricity and gas tariffs.