April 1, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 31: Opposition and ruling party legislators and civil society representatives at a seminar here on Friday expressed concern over the concentration of powers at the Centre that is endangering the federation of the country.

They blamed military as well as civil governments for the crisis the country is beset with today and called for redistribution of powers between the Centre and the federating units.

“Pakistan has ceased to be a federal state as all the powers of the state are concentrated in the hands of one individual”, People’s Party Parliamentarians leader Senator Raza Rabbani said at the seminar on ‘Federalism re-examined’, organised by the Liberal Forum Pakistan, a non-government organization.

Senator Rabbani said that the concept of federalism was core at the creation of the country and vital for its existence. But military dictators and bureaucracy negated this very concept.

He said that the concentration of powers in the hands of one individual was posing threats to the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

The PPP deputy secretary-general said that the parliament was no more repository of people’s powers and had become redundant as issues of national importance were not decided in parliament.

The power of president and provincial governors to dissolve National and provincial assemblies negated the basic principle of federalism, he added.

The senator said that concentration of powers in the centre was creating the sense of alienation the federating units.

“The president has assumed overwhelming powers thus marginalising the democratically-elected institutions”, Senator Rabbani said.

He regretted that the formula of NFC award between the centre and provinces could not be reached yet.

National Party leader Ishaq Baloch said that genuine federalism had been negated in the country since independence and powers of the state were more tilted in favour of the Centre. He said the country was in the grip of crisis and it could be steered out of present dilemma through the redistribution of powers between the Centre and provinces.

The Baloch leader said that worst democracy was better than the most enlightened dictatorship, stressing the need for a new social contract to bring the country back on the democratic path.

Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that democracy was an attitude intertwined with tolerance of opinion of others and positive criticism of government policies.

He said that persistent negation of democratic norms strengthened individuals at the expense of institutions.

“Military takeovers were welcomed by politicians and even the Supreme Court was stormed by workers of a political party”, the minister lamented adding that there were host of reasons preventing democracy taking roots in the country.

He said that non-party elections in 1985 were a major blow to democracy as they helped rise localism and bradarism.

The minister said that the 1973 Constitution was based on the consensus of all political parties and ethnic groups but the amendments in it at different periods had changed its original spirit. He said that India was a more mature democracy than Pakistan’s.

The minister refuted the notion that cabinet was by-passed on major national issues and said that the construction of Kala Bagh Dam was shelved as a result of consensus decision of the cabinet. He stressed the need for united stance of all political parties on major national issues.

Mr Khan said military operation in Balochistan was against the foreign terrorists and it should not create a sense of alienation in the province. He added that the president in uniform was a need for the political stability in the country.

Liberal Forum Pakistan chairperson Asif Khan said that certain actions of the present government such as military operation in Balochistan and construction of mega projects without the approval of the stakeholders were endangering the integrity of the country.

He stressed the need for sticking to the basic principles of federalism — supremacy of the constitution, fair distribution of powers between the centre and the provinces and independent judiciary.