New provinces issue prevails upon Senate proceedings

ISLAMABAD - Leader of the House in Senate, Nayyar Hussain Bukhari on Wednesday hinted at further amendments in the Constitution to address the issues overlooked or not resolved by the Constitution Reforms Committee (CRC), as the House concluded debate over the 18th Amendment Bill. The Parliament is going to correct the historic wrongs committed under the dictatorial coercion and if there are still certain issues remained unresolved or overlooked in the 18th Amendment Bill, the Constitution provides opportunity for further amendments, Bukhari said while concluding the debate. Over 60 senators across the political divide took part in the debate that continued for three days. Leader of the House further said that the consensus on 18th Amendment Bill was also a tribute to the judges who ever had refused to take oath under PCO. He added that there was no room for further experiences in the country and the politicians must be united to prevent the dictators from abrogating the Constitution. Majority of the speakers in Wednesdays debate expressed that though their grievances were not fully resolved yet the Bill provided a hope for fulfilment of their demands in future. Taking part in the debate, Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani welcomed that the CRCP had proposed to repeal the amendments brought in the Constitution by two dictators. He, however, regretted that the Committee kept intact Gen Yehya Khans act of merging Bahawalpur with Punjab province. He said that the people of Bahawalpur Division had no other option but to wage struggle for their rights and demand a separate province. Senator Dr Malik said they had proposed to omit the Objective Resolution, adding that PPP had assured them to provide Balochistan province with 51% shares in Gwadar Port. Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said MQM had demanded complete provincial autonomy in light of the Pakistan Resolution. Senator Shahid Bugti alleged that PML-Q opposed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to sabotage the provincial autonomy being provided through the 18th Amendment Bill. He disclosed that the same party had also strongly opposed provincial autonomy in the CRCP. Senator Sajid Mir said that the majoritys opinion should be respected over the issue of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He said appointing the individuals, disqualified by the judiciary to high offices was a sign of tussle with the judiciary. Senator Hafiz Rasheed lamented that the Committee had proposed no reforms for FATA. He offered to withdraw his amendments if Government made a commitment on the floor of the House that another amendment would be brought in for FATA reforms. Senator Raza Rabbani said that FATA reforms would be implemented after improvement of the security situation in the area. Other FATA senators also regretted that the Committee ignored to introduce reforms in an area where these were the most needed. Senator Khalid Soomro opposed creation of more provinces but said the resources should not be restricted to certain cities or areas. He regretted that the Sindh province would get only Rs 180 billion in the 7th NFC Award while it generated revenue of Rs 1000 billion. Senator Naeem Hussain Chatta said that the CRCP created artificial consensus over the various issues. He urged for creation of more provinces to reduce the disparity in terms of area and population among the provinces. Senator Semi Siddiqui said that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was part of the conspiracy of greater Pakhtunkhwa. ANP Senator Afrasiab Khattak informed that Section 144 had been lifted and Justice Aziz Kundi had been assigned to conduct judicial inquiry into the killing of protestors in Hazara Division. He said NWFP Government would satisfy the people of Hazara, adding that ANP believed in negotiations, as it negotiated with a group of Swat Taliban.