ISLAMABAD, Dec 28: Federal Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah Khan has expressed optimism about the formulation of a consensus draft dealing with provincial autonomy, which would be sent to the National Assembly in February after vetting by the law ministry.
He said he had formally asked the provincial governments to submit their recommendations on the subject. The National Reconstruction Bureau had been asked to work fast but it should not suggest sweeping changes in its report, instead confining itself to the changes acceptable to all stake holders, said the minister.
He said an informal meeting, chaired by parliamentary committee chairman Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, on Sunday had reviewed the progress in consultations and decided to involve provinces in the talks.
Mr Khan said the committee was considering reducing the number of items from the concurrent list from a total of 47 to 25 items, instead of abolishing the list in one go. Besides, he said, most committee members thought that a number of federal powers should also be transferred to the provinces.
Meanwhile, chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Thursday held another round of informal talks with senior party leaders to discuss the proposed legislation on provincial autonomy. The PML chief, who is also chairman of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan, met members of the committee last week and had decided to hold a formal meeting in Quetta after Eidul Azha.
Among others, the meeting was attended by leader of house in Senate and chairman parliamentary sub-committee Wasim Sajjad and PML’s secretary-general Mushahid Hussain. The issue of participation of opposition parties and Baloch nationalist leadership in the future proceedings of the committee was also discussed.
It was learnt that the four provinces, the real stake holders, were taking little or no interest in the provincial autonomy issue. They said that the provinces’ reluctance was delaying the finalisation of recommendations being prepared by the parliamentary committee on Balochistan.
Officials working on the provincial autonomy package said that the parliamentary committee had time and again urged the provincial governments to submit their recommendations.
