PPP accuses centre of ruining economy, calls for elections – Pakistan

KARACHI: The People's Party of Pakistan on Friday accused the Tehreek-i-Insaf government of Pakistan of ruining the economy and called for new elections in the country, echoing a statement by a federal minister that cited a similar reason to grant Karachi control downtown. .

"The plot plotted by the team of Gen (Pervez) Musharraf, which is in the [present] Government configuration in the federation, dividing Sindh will bring extremely dangerous consequences. The people of Sindh will never allow them to divide their province, ”said Senator Raza Rabbani while speaking at a press conference in the Sindh Assembly building.

Senator Rabbani, who can be described as the lead author of the 18th Amendment of the Constitution, referred to the statement of federal law minister, Dr. Farogh Naseem, in which the latter had hinted to invoke article 149 to take the control of Karachi affairs, and said: "Create such The impression is totally unconstitutional. Instead, the federal government can offer directives to the provincial government on certain issues; and that does not give it the power to do those things for itself." .

The former president of the Senate said that the federal minister had cited the deterioration of the economy as a reason for taking over the affairs of Karachi; This was a remarkably superficial and contradictory reason to play with the political geography of a province that was sensitive to its magnificent past.

The 18th Amendment guarantees that the federation will not influence and undermine provincial autonomy, says Senator Rabbani

“It is not Sindh where decisions are made to regulate the economy. These decisions are designed and implemented by [the federal government in] Islamabad It is its faulty economic policy that has led the country to a serious economic crisis, has multiplied unemployment and has led to rising prices.

"For these reasons, Sindh demands that the government, which has failed to protect the welfare of its poor population …, resign and go to new elections," said Senator Rabbani.

He said that the 18th Amendment had introduced adequate and sufficient checks and balances to ensure that the federation could not influence and undermine provincial autonomy.

“Article 234, on the imposition of emergency in the country, cannot be invoked until the parliament approves it. Similarly, if a provincial government wants to delegate certain functions to the center (it cannot do so) until its legislature passes a resolution. These controls have been introduced to stop the misuse of the powers that were used in the past with impunity.

“All these provisions are there to stop the repetition of such dramas; and if the federal government promotes this problem, it would openly violate the Constitution. "

The main leader of the PPP said there would be strong implications if any action were taken to divide Sindh.

Referring to the Indian action to annex occupied Kashmir, Senator Rabbani said: “There are many states in India that have a special status. The consequences of India can also harm Pakistan. Those who are thinking about Article 149 should take into account the regional context. "

He said that "foreign hand" is already active in Balochistan and that there are also destabilizing factors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Still, the government is playing with a problem solved in Sindh.

"Do not ambush provincial autonomy. Should I say that you are working on a foreign agenda? For God's sake, don't destabilize the country for ethnic reasons; it would lead to instability and the whole country will suffer."

Senator Rabbani said it was intriguing that what the PTI government wanted to do in Karachi was something similar to what Narendra Modi had done in occupied Kashmir.

For his part, Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani said the provincial government had the ability to address the problems of the province. It was not necessary for the federal government to invoke article 149 of the Constitution to resolve them.

Posted on Dawn, September 14, 2019