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| October 29, 2006 | Sunday | Shawwal 5, 1427 |
PPP(SB) announces constitutional package
LARKANA, Oct 28: Ms Ghinwa Bhutto, chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto), announced on Saturday her 14 points suggesting more autonomy for the provinces through selective amendments to the 1973 Constitution.
Talking to journalists after a reception at the Al-Murtaza House, she demanded doing away with the entire concurrent list and all amendments to the constitution made from 1977 to date and putting all criminal laws under the jurisdiction of provinces.
She charged that the way the country’s affairs were being run was widening the gulf and increasing distrust among the provinces. The element of ‘over-centralisation’ in the absence of required provincial autonomy was multiplying people’s miseries, she remarked.
Elaborating her 14-point plan she called for amending the first portion of the federal list and the articles from 31 to 34, 44-46 and 49-54 to make corporations, highways, police and planning provincial subjects.
Ms Ghinwa suggested that the provinces should be made masters of their revenue collection and spending leaving the income tax and custom tax to the centre to enable it to maintain army and meet expenses of federal government.
She demanded amending the first part of the list of common legislation with particular reference to the articles 17, 18, 20 to 24, 32, 37 and article 73(1) making it mandatory to get money bill passed by Senate on the model of the United States of America.
She said that the governors’ appointment should be linked with approval by the province concerned, which could be made possible through amendments to the article 101, 151(2), 159, 160, 193 and 232(1).
Ms Ghinwa said that the president could only proclaim emergency in case of an external threat and not in case of an internal one and proposed annexing some new articles to the constitution to grant immunity to the elected government from being dismissed.
She said that the approval for granting loans should be made subject to parliament’s approval.
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