LARKANA: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh President Nisar Khuhro has said that whether it is the 27th Amendment or 28th, his party will not compromise on the 18th Amendment, provincial autonomy and the provinces’ share in the NFC Award.

Addressing a press conference at Larkana Press Club on Tuesday, he described as ‘baseless’ the objections raised by certain judges of the superior courts on the proposed Constitutional Court through the 27th Amendment.

“Where was the Supreme Court when the country was experiencing takeovers, and the courts were legitimising martial laws and nodding in agreement with the dictators?” he asked.

Khuhro said Constitutional Court was a need of the time as judges would have equal representation in it and the court would examine matters related to the Constitution.

“If anyone has objection to the Constitutional Court, they should logically explain why such a court should not exist,” he added. He stated that the establishment of a Constitutional Court was also part of the Charter of Democracy.

Says PPP’s support for Constitutional Court is not in revenge for death sentence to Z.A. Bhutto by judiciary

He said the 27th Amendment would not affect the daily lives of ordinary citizens, and that PPP’s support for the creation of a Constitutional Court was not an attempt to take revenge from the Supreme Court for the execution of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

“If the PPP wanted revenge, we would not have filed a reference in the Supreme Court to correct the historical record of the Bhutto’s execution. As a result of that reference, the court admitted that Bhutto did not receive a fair trial,” he said.

He added that the Constitutional Court was needed because it was the same superior judiciary that sentenced Shaheed Bhutto to death in a fabricated case and validated the martial laws. Those who objected to the Constitutional Court today were silent when a parliamentary committee had been formed for the 18th Amendment, and the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had objected to the 18th Amendment as well, he said.

He said: “We are not like Imran Khan who attacked the Supreme Court. We chose the constitutional path as the Constitution allows amendments for improvement, and such improvements will continue to be made,” he said. He expressed the hope that after the establishment of the Constitutional Court, equal representation of judges would eventually be ensured in the Supreme Court as well.

Answering a question, he said that before the 27th Amendment, rumours were spread that the provinces’ share in the NFC Award would be reduced, the 18th Amendment would be rolled back and new provinces would be created by breaking up Sindh. “But everyone has seen that none of these points were included in the 27th Amendment,” he said.

Financial aid for wheat growers

He said that in Sindh, funds were being directly transferred into the accounts of 400,000 registered growers with holdings of up to 25 acres — Rs22,000 per acre — so they could purchase one bag of DAP fertiliser and two bags of urea. Farmers would be able to buy one DAP bag for Rs14,000 and two urea bags for Rs8,000. He said the Sindh government was providing Rs56 billion in subsidies to those registered growers, and awareness seminars would be held in every district under the PPP platform to inform farmers.

He said that agricultural growth in Pakistan had dropped to around three per cent, and exporters had destroyed the agriculture sector because paddy was being purchased at Rs2,200 per 40kg instead of Rs3,500. Therefore, the federal government should restore the Rice Export Corporation and begin purchasing rice and paddy at the government level, he suggested.

Mr Khuhro said the Sindh government had demanded support price of Rs4,000 for per 40kg of wheat, but the federal government had decided a uniform purchase price of Rs3,500 per 40kg for all provinces. He added PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had resolved farmers’ issues, just like the issue of canals, by ensuring that the wheat support price was fixed.

He said that during the Rabi season, the Indus River System Authority did not indicate water shortages; the authority should release water into the Rice Canal during Rabi season so that the crop could flourish.

He added that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was not satisfied with the performance of several Sindh government departments, which was why it had recovered Rs26 billion from those departments and deposited the amount into the provincial treasury.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2025