PESHAWAR, Jan 20: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has rejected the fresh National Finance Commission (NFC) award announced by Gen Pervez Musharraf and called upon the government to allocate 60 per cent of the total divisible pool to the provinces.
Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Abdul Akbar Khan, leader of PPP Parliamentarians in the NWFP Assembly, said that last year Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had asked the provinces to accept 48.5 per cent as their share in the divisible pool, but the provinces insisted on a share of 50 per cent and turned down the prime minister’s offer. But now the provincial chief ministers had welcomed Gen Musharraf’s decision on the issue and betrayed their people, he said.
Mr Khan said that when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister the provinces were allocated a 60 per cent share in the NFC award, but former President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari had lowered the ratio of the share on Jan 31, 1997 to 37.5 per cent in the new award.
According to Mr Khan, the PPP had introduced pro-people policies during its tenures but successive hand-picked rulers had reversed these policies and provided all economic and social benefits to a select group of exploiters. In his view the PPP has been resisting arbitrary actions of the military rulers on basic constitutional issues since their coming into the power in 1999.
Criticizing the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal, he said, the religious parties alliance had bailed out Gen Musharraf by getting the controversial 17th constitutional amendment passed, empowering him (the general) to decide about the NFC award and now accepting his decision on the award. It is no longer an NFC award as it has been turned “a one-man drafted award” which should be named after Gen Musharraf who, he said, had deprived the provinces of their constitutional rights, he added.
According to Article 160 of the 1973 Constitution, he said, the president was bound to announce the constitution of the finance commission after every five years, but he himself had no right to decide about it on behalf of the four provinces.
He said the rulers had been misusing a constitution, which they had abrogated time and again in favour of their autocratic rule since 1999.
He said the MMA provincial government was a partner of Gen Musharraf in violation of the constitution.
Mr Khan said the PPP would not accept the construction of Bhasha dam, unless the province of Sindh accepted it. He said Bhasha dam was also controversial, because people of the Northern Areas, who were geographically a part of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, were opposed to the dam. He expressed fears that a 250-kilometre-long stretch of Karakoram Highway would submerge under the Bhasha lake.
He said Bhasha dam would benefit the NFWP, because although its water storage was in the Northern Areas its power house would be in the province. He denied that any dam could be built on River Sindh as it had left no water after the apportionment of water amongst the provinces.
He asked the government to start de-silting of the Tarbela dam and enhance its life for 30 more years.