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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) on Friday vowed to oppose the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill if there was any move to provincial autonomy guaranteed under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday warned that his party would resist any move to curtail provincial powers guaranteed under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with ruling coalition partners to secure support for the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment, which the government plans to introduce in the Senate soon. “The provinces have a constitutional right to an increased NFC (National Finance Commission) award, not a reduced one,” Maulana Fazl said while speaking to reporters in Islamabad. “If provincial rights are taken away, the JUI-F will strongly oppose it.” He said his party agreed “in principle” on certain points but would issue a detailed response once the draft amendment was made public. Commenting on proposed changes to Article 243 — which governs the command of the armed forces — he said: “If it affects democracy, the Constitution, or politics, we will reject it. If it is purely administrative, we will review it and decide accordingly.” The JUI-F chief lamented that the country’s affairs were being run by a single institution, saying that “nothing will improve until we adopt collective thinking.” He urged greater coordination between parliament, its security committee, and other stakeholders to reach consensus-based decisions. Referring to the 26th Amendment process, Fazl recalled that extensive parliamentary debate had led to the government withdrawing 35 clauses from the original draft. “We must not repeat practices that cast doubt on parliament’s representation of the people,” he cautioned. Calling for “natural lawmaking,” he criticised the trend of rushed or self-serving legislation. “We often make unusual laws that society rejects. We should avoid misusing our authority,” he added. The JUI-F leader noted that the 18th Amendment had been achieved through months of broad-based consultation. “When this [27th Amendment] is tabled, we will see how long the process takes,” he said, adding there were currently no plans to meet PPP leaders on the issue. PPP Draws a Red Line Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a key ally in the ruling coalition, reaffirmed its opposition to any attempt to reduce the provinces’ share in the NFC Award while expressing conditional support for limited amendments to Article 243. Announcing the decisions of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting at Bilawal House on Thursday night, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the party “can never compromise on the financial rights of the provinces.” “The PPP rejects the proposal for constitutional protection of the provinces’ share,” he said, adding that the CEC had, however, authorised support for certain revisions to Article 243. “The government has proposed giving the Joint Chiefs of Staff a new designation, creating a position for Strategic Command, and introducing the title of Field Marshal,” he said. “The CEC has allowed me to support only this amendment.” On the government’s proposal to establish a constitutional court, Bhutto-Zardari said the party had not yet reached a final decision and would continue internal deliberations before taking a formal position.
