Rabbani warns against roll back of 18th Amendment

KARACHI: The former Senate chairman and PPP senior leader Mian Raza Rabbani has warned of serious repercussions if the 18th Constitutional Amendment is rolled back and this will be unacceptable to the federation of Pakistan.

Speaking at a seminar here on Saturday, Rabbabi said the civil and military bureaucracy in the country has the desire to roll back the 18th Amendment. He said the 18th Amendment had materialized the concept of provincial autonomy and persuaded the nationalist forces in Sindh and Balochistan to believe and take part in the democratic process as otherwise they would be left with no option other than to wage an armed struggle.

He said that the 18th Constitutional Amendment was adopted to enable the smaller provinces in the federation of Pakistan to get their due legitimate rights. He lamented that whosoever advocated the cause of provincial autonomy is branded as a traitor. He said the entire political history of the country is witness to the fact that the establishment and the bureaucracy have never recognized the provincial autonomy. For this cause, politicians were used as a tool by the establishment while the judiciary was also manipulated for the same reason.

Raza Rabbani said if in case one reviewed the very genesis of Pakistan then he could easily come to know that the need for a separate homeland for Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent originated from the demand for autonomous provinces in the undivided India. This demand later on became amplified with the passage of time and provided the very basis for creation of Pakistan, he said. He said the 18th Amendment enabled the smaller provinces to overcome their sense of deprivation. He said that never in the history of Pakistan, the award of National Finance Commission was announced during a dictatorial regime rather it was always notified during the democratic dispensation in the country.

He said the federal government is considering the option to reduce share of the provinces in the NFC award by three per cent and give it to FATA after their merger with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the federal government could not alone take such a decision unilaterally as it should be decided at the forum of Council of Common Interests having representation of every province. Rather the best forum to discuss this option and make a decision on it is the National Finance Commission, he said.