KARACHI - Federalism could be immensely beneficial for political arrangement if followed in true spirit, said Senator Raza Rabbani.He was addressing at an international conference on “Federalism in a Pluralistic Developing Societies: Learning from the European Experience”, organised by the Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad on Tuesday. “Federalism was never practiced in Pakistan, had it been practiced in true spirit, Pakistan could have not been disintegrated,” he said. He also mentioned that the first two points of Quaid-i-Azam’s 14 points talk about provincial autonomy.Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser, Vice-Chancellor, University of Karachi in his inaugural address said that, “the topic of federalism is of crucial importance for the students and general people alike”. “Transferring powers to provinces give a sense of ownership”, he added. Prof Dr Zafar Iqbal, Dean Faculty of Arts, University of Karachi brought a light on the issue that federalism has had great setbacks in Pakistan. He hoped that greater attention to this issue will positively influence the society. Mr. Andreas Duer, Representative of the H anns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad said that federalism has an intrinsic political importance as it is practiced in some politically very developed countries. He also mentioned that, “learning from European experience does not mean to copy a system rather adopt the best practices”. Prof Dr Imtiaz Ahmed from Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in his keynote address told the audience that historical factors do carry weight in terms of entrenchment of federalist structure. Javed Jabbar, former Senator and federal minister, said that federalism had more to do with perceived nations of power and authority in a particular society. While giving emphasis on the local government system he was of the opinion that local system of governance can be a stepping stance for greater federal mechanism.Prof Dr Muhammad Waseem, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) presented a paper on “Federalism in Pakistan after the 18th Amendment”. He was of the opinion that federalism could only be effective in Pakistan, if genuine concerns of the concerned ethnic communities are properly addressed.Prof Dr Lok Raj Baral, Director and Chairman, Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal, presented a paper on “Federalism in a Divided Society: The Case of Nepal”. He said that Nepal has been experiencing a tumultuous political past. “Issues of political marginalization and deprivation have central importance when it comes to federalism in Nepal”, he added.Prof Dr Wee Chong Hui, University of Technology MARA (UiTM), Sarawak, Malaysia presented a paper on “Public Finances, Fiscal Federalism and Regional Development in Malaysia”. She said that federalism has been challenged by internal social and economic disparities, including specific indigenous minority cultures and cultural diversity within race while socio-economic development has been facilitated by government programmes, localities in which these programs have not been influential may promise more prospects in the context of the current concern for environmentally sustainable development and the enhancement of indigenous cultures. Dr Usman Mustafa, Director, PIDE, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad presented a paper on “Fiscal Federalism in Pakistan: National Finance Commission in Pakistan”. He said that there were divergent tendencies between the centre and the provinces fiscal federalism in concerned. Ms Elisabeth Alber, Senior researcher at the Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism South Tyrol gave a detailed account on the fiscal federalization of Italy in her presentation. Professor Dr Moonis Ahmar, Director, Area Study Centre for Europe, said in his inaugural address that, “Political justice and equality can be the best possible route to federalist politics”. He further added that Pakistan certainly needs greater management on a federal level in a way which could live up to the aspirations of the people living in Pakistan.