PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday warned that anyone who attempts to revoke the constitutional guarantees related to provinces’ rights as provided under the 18th Amendment was akin to “playing with fire”.
Bilawal made the remarks in a video address to mark the PPP’s 58th foundation day, with his speech being live-streamed in “more than 100 districts” across the country, as per the party.
Bilawal recalled that the ruling PML-N had also proposed constitutional tweaks related to the provinces’ financial rights under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, which were then rejected by the PPP and did not make it to the final version of the 27th Amendment.
“The PPP considers that there were a lot of faultlines in this country and remain,” Bilawal said, adding that the PPP had tried to address those by giving provinces their rights and due representation, and restoring democracy in the past.
“Those people who are trying to play with the NFC Award or the 18th Amendment or other such matters, or are thinking of doing so, it is as if they are playing with fire,” Bilawal warned.
Noting that the government “could see” that the Indian defence minister made aggressive statements about Sindh and that tensions were being created on the Afghan border, Bilawal affirmed: “We will try our best that the internal faultlines in Pakistan are addressed, instead of providing any forces the chance to misuse or take advantage of our faultlines.”
The PPP chairman said that if united, the country had the ability to face any adversary, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and “all sorts of conspiracies”.
Bilawal praised his party for “saving the constitutional guarantee of the provinces’ financial share”.
“They (PML-N) wanted to bring back the system of executive magistry; they wanted back the subjects of education and population control that had been devolved to provinces in the 18th Amendment. […] Similarly, the government had other wishes,” he noted.
“I have been protecting your rights and God-willing, will keep doing so,” the PPP scion vowed, adding that his party was ready to support any decision that would strengthen the federation.
“But the PPP can never back a decision that would weaken the federation or through which province’s rights would be usurped,” he asserted.
During his address, Bilawal also spoke about the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) established under the 27th Amendment – a move the PPP had long advocated for, but was omitted in the 26th Amendment.
“Some people are trying to make this constitutional court controversial,” he noted, adding that he hoped the FCC would “prove all those wrong through its character”.
In a message to those “political forces who wanted to make a parliamentary move controversial”, the PPP chief stressed that it was the parliament’s and the public representatives’ power to enact legislation.
“If someone is demanding that a court or a judge decide on whether the Amendment can remain or not, it is not their authority, and neither will we allow that any other institution interferes in the parliament,” Bilawal warned.
The 27th Amendment and the FCC created through it have been at the centre of a heated debate. The FCC has dethroned the Supreme Court as the country’s top judicial forum, with international experts and judges having raised concerns over judicial independence.
“[The FCC], that institution and its judges have a major responsibility on their shoulders. While representing the Centre, they have to oversee our constitutional issues and judicial independence,” Bilawal said.
He expressed the hope that the FCC would try to “restore people’s trust [in the judiciary] and become a court that will prioritise the Constitution, the law and do justice”.
The PPP scion said it was “definitely his wish” that a Constitutional Amendment be passed through a consensus. However, he highlighted: “If not with consensus, then this work was done through a majority and by the parliament, so only the parliament has the power to review that decision or not.”
“We hope that the constitutional court will look at this country’s biggest constitutional and political issues, and our older Supreme Court of Pakistan will look at all criminal matters,” Bilawal said.
Taking a jibe at what his party deemed judicial activism, Bilawal said he hoped the FCC would not be a court that would “head out to build dams, destroy poor people’s homes, decide the prices of tomato and samosas, send democratic governments home, or disqualify prime ministers for not writing a letter”.
“We are about to address a major judicial faultline in the form of the constitutional court,” Bilawal asserted.
He added that this new set-up would enable the ordinary citizens to get “immediate relief” in criminal cases, as they will be focused on by the SC.
“We not only fulfilled the [promise] of creating a constitutional court but also assured the equal representation of provinces in that court,” he highlighted.