LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan touched a raw nerve on Tuesday by suggesting that the federating units shed a part of their share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award for the federation to meet its financial liabilities.

Talking to the media outside the Punjab Assembly, the speaker questioned whether the federal government retained sufficient capacity to manage its affairs after distributing large sums to the provinces through the NFC Award.

He suggested that provinces should also share the federal debt burden, linking the debate to broader questions of governance and rule of law but without elaborating further.

On the other hand, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani delivered a forceful speech in the Upper House and drew attention to what he termed an unconstitutional attempt by the federal government to dilute the provinces’ share under the NFC Award.

He pointed to the terms-of-reference (ToRs) recently proposed for the next NFC Award and said they amount to a rollback of the fiscal devolution enshrined in the 18th Amendment. He stressed that provinces must not be dragged into financing federal schemes out of their own pool, or asked to contribute to federal liabilities under the guise of some new Award.

Under the 7th NFC Award, provinces were given an enhanced vertical share of the divisible pool — moving from 49pc to 56pc, and then to 57.5pc — while the horizontal distribution evolved beyond mere population to a multi-criteria formula.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: In Lahore, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan stressed that the local government system must be embedded in the Constitution through a dedicated amendment (the proposed 27th Amendment) so that local bodies enjoy the same constitutional protection as the federal and provincial governments.

He recalled that the Punjab Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution calling for the constitutional protection of local governments and the guarantee of their term. He pledged to convey the message regarding constitutional protection for local governments to the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan as well.

While indicating that the 27th Amendment seemed to be in the making, he said that even if the clause for local government protection was not included immediately, it could be added later.

The speaker also weighed in on matters of freedom and the incarceration of the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI). Clarifying that while he was personally not in favour of keeping anyone in jail, he said the crime for which the PTI founder was imprisoned should be evaluated.

With reference to May 9 attacks on military installations by PTI supporters, he questioned the extent of freedom being demanded, asking rhetorically if one should have the liberty to burn his house, incinerate the entire historical heritage, and to blow up monuments dedicated to martyrs.

He also called for immediate governmental action to address unregulated traffic by the “dumper mafia,” stating that he had been following reports on the issue on television and urging the government to rein in the chaotic traffic caused by this group.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2025