Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani on Wednesday said that any attempt aimed to roll back the 18th Amendment would prove disastrous for the federation.

Keeping in view the sensitive geopolitical situation and internal security environment, the federation would suffer if the centrist mindset continues to create hurdles in the way of smooth implementation of 18th Amendment, Mian Raza Rabbani maintained.

He expressed these view at the concluding ceremony of seminar Model CCI Debating Federalism, jointly organised by the Senate, Higher Education Commission and federal ministry Inter-Provincial Coordination and the Hanns Seidel Foundation at Parliament House on Wednesday.

He said that baseless interpretations were being given on various articles of the Constitution with reference to the control over resources, health and education. However, health and education, as per 18th Amendment were devolved subjects and a proper mechanism had been evolved for distribution of resources among the centre and the provinces.

He further remarked that the 1973 Constitution was a major leap forward in terms of provincial autonomy, dispute resolution and making the provinces to an extent master of their resources.

He said that unfortunately the centre usurped education and health from provinces which were against the spirit of the Constitution.

Regarding the 18th Amendment, it was the education and health sector which resisted the move and the reason behind the resistance was that there was huge funding involved and there were perks and privileges due to which devolution of the two important sectors faced challenge, Raza Rabbani said.

He said that it was pleaded that the devolution of education department to the provinces would disintegrate the internal cohesion among provinces as every province would come up with its own curriculum and would prove detrimental to national integration.

“I don’t think that the certificate for patriotism has to be issue by Islamabad,” Rabbani stated.

He said that Pakistani course books contain a distorted version of history and there was no mention about the people who rendered sacrifices for democracy and stood against the tyrannies of the dictators.

Regarding the Council of Common Interests, the Senate chairman said that the constitutional mechanism existed if there was any matter regarding curriculum. He also said that there was an inter-provincial coordination committee headed by the minister of IPC with chief ministers as its members, resolving issues.

He said that political forces present in the Parliament when 18th Amendment was being passed would always be remembered in the constitutional history for the role played by them to give the provinces their constitutional rights.

He lauded the initiative and expressed the hope that such interaction would provide more insight into the issues and would create awareness among the youth.

Senator Mir Kabir Ahmad Muhammad Shahi, who is the chairman of the Devolution Committee, observed that certain forces were active against the 18th Amendment.

He apprised that the committee held seminar and discussions on devolution and engaged in the creation of awareness, however, resistance was being faced on implementation of the 18th Amendment.

Senate Secretary Amjad Parvez Malik said that this exercise was a great way to educate and apprise youth about constitutional, legal and federal framework that binds the federation together.

He said that the Senate of Pakistan was making constant endeavours to improve the parliament – public connectivity through public outreach programme and special focus has been laid on engaging students to not only study, but also contribute to the democratic and parliamentary process through specialised MoUs with leading universities.

He said that this event was an endeavour by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, which aims to reach out to the youth to give them the opportunity to experience the challenges of government.

He hoped for similar future collaborations with the Hanns Seidel Foundation and assured that the Senate will always lend its support to the foundation.

Published in Daily Times, February  22^nd 2018.