ISLAMABAD: Speakers on Monday expressed fears that certain forces wish to see the 18th Amendment rolled back and called for concerted efforts to prevent this from happening.

They were speaking at a consultative session organised by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) titled ‘18th Amendment: Reforms and Fears’.

The spirit behind the 18th Amendment was appreciated and it was observed that the amendment was just the beginning of a process rather than an end in itself.

Also read: ‘Provinces must defend their domain after 18th Amendment’

Speaking at the seminar, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) central leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad regretted that the country was never run under a true federal parliamentary system. He criticised the judiciary for validating military regimes in the past.

He said according to the Constitution the province where the well-head of natural gas was located should have the first right over it. But Sui village and nearby areas in Balochistan are still deprived of gas, he added.

Speakers regret persistence of centrist policies

He said Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would be satisfied even if they were given half of the rights enjoyed by Punjab.

The JUI-F leader said the government of Balochistan had no writ while the corps commander and Inspector General Frontier Corps (IGFC) held real power.

He regretted that even today people talked about the ‘third umpire’ and called for upholding supremacy of the Constitution.

Afrasiab Khattak of Awami National Party (ANP) said the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was supposed to meet at least once every 90 days but had not met for over six months. He said no province summoned a meeting of the CCI.

Centre for Civic Education Executive Director Zafarullah Khan in a presentation observed that the 18th Amendment introduced the doctrine of institutional powers but prevailing mindset was of individualisation of power.

It anticipated proactive provinces that were yearning for autonomy but unfortunately the provinces had demonstrated lethargy.

“If Islamabad failed to summon constitutionally mandatory meeting of the Council of Common Interests, the provinces did not demand it either,” he said.

“We are approaching the 8th National Finance Commission on July 1, 2015 but discussions about it are yet to start,” Khan said.

He termed the National Curriculum Council as “federal encroachment at the behest of the international development community”.

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014