KARACHI - Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Firdaus Shamim Naqvi said Thursday that imposition of governor’s rule was duly constitutional as there was a provision for it in the country’s constitution and the same could be used, if needed.

Speaking on floor of the House during debate on the budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21, Naqvi said that Pakistan People’s Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had incorporated the section for governor’s rule in 1973’s Constitution. He suggested that a parliamentary committee of the assembly members could be formed for further deliberation on the matter.

Speaking on 18th Amendment, Naqvi termed it a great thing which he said restored 1973’s Constitution in its true spirit but added that the amendment was aimed at devolving powers at grassroots level. “Bhutto’s constitution is aimed at devolution of powers to the local level but the provincial government kept it,” he said and added that no provincial government in the world had civic departments under its control but Sindh government was empowered for lifting garbage, provision of water and other local issues. “These are the reasons for which we demand review of the 18th constitutional amendment,” said Naqvi.

He was of the view that just as the PPP asked the centre for the National Finance Commission, opposition parties in Sindh demanded Provincial Finance Commission. He said that districts in the province were not given their rights as the Sindh government didn’t award the Provincial Finance Commission for so long.

Coming down hard on the provincial government for not giving him the public accounts committee’s chairmanship, Naqvi said it had to be given to the Opposition Leader ‘as Benazir Bhutto in charter of democracy agreed to award PAC’s chairmanship to opposition’.

MQM-P boycotts proceedings

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan boycotted the proceedings against the budget which they said based on biasness attitude towards urban areas of Sindh. Just before boycotting the assembly, its Parliamentary Leader Kanwar Naveed Jameel in his speech said that there was no new scheme for Karachi in the budget 2020-21 as many projects for the had been taken away.

He said locals of Karachi were neglected in the government’s jobs as the people having the city’s fake domiciles got recruited.  The MQM-P Parliamentary Leader went on to say that incompetent officers were posted to run the city’s affairs. “We are living in Sindh by choice as Yahya Khan offered to make Karachi a new province but we opted to remain part of the province,” said Kanwar.

The MQM-P lawmakers also held a protest rally and sit-in in the assembly premises and outside respectively.

‘PTI is reason for

 economy’s downfall’

Minister for Education and Labor Saeed Ghani said that the main reason for the economy’s downfall was not the corona virus but the PTI. He said the coronavirus pandemic came in March but the country’s economy had sunk even before that, adding that when the PTI government came to power, the GDP was 5.7 per cent but not it went into negative.

Speaking on ‘political victimization’, Ghani said the PPP leaders and members were arrested by the National Accountability Bureau without reference.

“Faryal Talpur, Khursheed Shah, Sharjeel Memon and many other PPP leaders were arrested without any reference that’s the reason why we call it a double standard of NAB or NAB Niazi Nexus,” the minister added.

He said that there were 49,000 small and big schools in Sindh and all these cannot be made functional.  The rulers in the past had established 57 schools in one village instead of one. More than a dozen schools built for their ego, there will be no children, but there can be donkeys.

‘18th Amendment not a blank cheque for PPP’

The Grand Democratic Alliance’ Parliamentary Leader Husnain Mirza said that 18th amendment was not blank cheque for the PPP but it was aimed at devolving powers at the local level. He said that even after five years of the local bodies elections, Chairman of Badin could not be elected as all 14 UCs were won by opposition parties.

Mirza demanded that the third tier of the government should be financially empowered to under Article 140-A of the constitution. He also asked the provincial government to award the provincial fiance commission.