PESHAWAR, Dec 14: Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah Khan said on Thursday that the federal government could annul the adoption in the Frontier assembly of the Hasba bill if the same was found to be incompatible with the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said the centre had the requisite powers. Mr Khan added that no unconstitutional step would be taken while determining the bill’s constitutional status.
The federal minister also discussed the deteriorating Pak-Afghan relations and said that since the creation of Pakistan, misunderstandings had been cropping up between the two countries. All misconceptions had been gradually addressed as the two countries were bound by “unbreakable socio-cultural ties” and Afghan President Hamid Karzai “is well aware of it”, Mr Khan said.
Referring to the relations between Afghanistan and India, the minister said that no one could challenge India’s regional status, adding that its sprawling market had attracted the US and China. “(We must realise that) economic diplomacy has replaced political diplomacy and all maters are decided by financial status,” the minister told a questioner.
He also talked about provincial autonomy and said that he supported smaller provinces’ rights, adding that a provincial autonomy bill would soon be tabled in the National Assembly to address reservations of the smaller provinces.
Stressing the need for restoring the Council of Common Interests and hoped that it would contribute to a better understanding among the four federating units. "I believe that 75 per cent of people’s problems are related to the district administration and measures would be taken to transfer maximum powers to the provinces and subsequently to district level," Mr Khan said.
Referring to the NWFP government’s performance, the minister said that it had failed to fulfil its electoral promises. Highlighting the bad road and sanitation situation, he said that the people had been disenchanted because of the MMA government’s failure to address key civic issues.
He criticised the NWFP chief minister for claiming his government’s success in supplying gas and electricity to different areas in the province and said that people knew that both were federal subjects and the NWFP government had nothing to do with it.
He said that hundreds of villages would be electrified during the current year and Rs30 billions had been allocated for different projects in the province, including the Lowari Tunnel, the Gomal Zam Dam, and other development projects.
He credited President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for improving Pakistan’s image abroad and cited the visits of foreign leaders to Pakistan as a result of such efforts.
He said that President Musharraf’s policy of empowering women would improve the country’s economic health, adding that no country could make progress without equal gender participation in different walks of life.
Later, the minister held a meeting with the NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai at the Governor House, a handout said.
