ISLAMABAD: Expressing their concern over controversial remarks by some federal ministers about the 18th Amendment, the opposition parties on Monday vowed to protect the provincial autonomy granted under the historic amendment and warned the government against any move to reverse or repeal it.

The pledge from the opposition parties came a day after federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said during a TV talk show that the 18th Amendment had some defects and called for reviewing it.

And on Monday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while talking to reporters though announced, that the government had no plan to repeal the 18th Amendment, but at the same time declared that the provinces must sit with the federal government to discuss the issue of its implementation. He said there was a need to review it so that the provinces did not look towards the Centre.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman talked to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and leaders of some other opposition parties to discuss the situation in the aftermath of the ministers’ statements and the crisis caused by the spread of Covid-19.

According to an official handout issued by the PPP media centre, Mr Bhutto-Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman pledged to protect the 18th Amendment.

The PPP chairman said the democratic forces of Pakistan would never compromise on the 18th Amendment. He said democratic parties had restored the Constitution to its original form and shape through the 18th Amendment. He made it “loud and clear” that any attempt to reverse or repeal the 18th Amendment would not be tolerated and democratic forces would resist any such attempt with full force.

The PPP chairman also spoke about the serious situation in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak. He said the federal government should help the provinces instead of trying to tamper with the Constitu­tion in this crucial time.

Earlier in the day, in an interview to BBC, Mr Bhutto-Zardari alleged that the federal government, instead of working with provincial governments, was trying to sabotage the good work done by the Sindh government.

The PPP chairman said the federal government could not absolve itself from responsibility of chalking out a strategy by wrongly explaining the 18th Amendment.

He said it was a responsibility of the leadership to take difficult decisions in times of national crisis, but the federation and the prime minister had shown no empathy with the provinces.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2020