Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday criticised the PTI-led federal government for what he claimed usurping the Sindh province’s rightful share of the NFC Award, a private TV channel reported.

“To date, one of Pakistan’s provinces has been deprived of its rightful share to the NFC Award; we have been demanding our rights since ages,” Bilawal told media. “Last year, there was a shortfall of Rs116 billion [in the NFC Award] from Sindh and it’s Rs200 billion this year. This injustice is continuously done to every province in Pakistan,” he said. “They [federal government] is not willing to give the deserving share of the NFC Award that would increase the funds and resources [to Sindh] so that there can be an improvement in the lives of its people, as well as the education, health, and local bodies systems,” he went on to say.

“You name any country, whether it has a presidential system or a parliamentary one, is under a federal rule or unitary form of government, faces coronavirus pandemic, hurricanes, monsoons or locust attacks, the entire nation becomes one, they unite and manage resources to assist each other,” Bilawal said. “But our government offered no facilitation. It’s our misfortune that when our nation is experiencing a pandemic, there are talks of taking away their rights and resources. There are historical monsoon rains of 10 years and problems [created by the floods] in the entire province,” he went on to say. “If a house is facing issues in Karachi, that is as important to me as a house that collapses in Chohi [Goth], Qamber Shahdadkot, Ghotki or Thatta,” he stressed.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was sent to the province since it is suffering a natural disaster. “The Centre is playing politics on natural calamities and crises at a time when we and our people are in dire straits. We see malicious intentions and these will undermine our national integrity,” he warned. “Such actions would undermine the countrywide efforts and the national cohesion. Whenever there is a national issue, the PPP is always set aside,” he said. “They claimed we would not support the FATF [Financial Action Task Force bill] and that that’s why we are asking for an NRO. The PPP accepted the FATF and constitutional requirements under the democratic process but not the undemocratic ones through which they were trying to obtain dictatorial powers,” he went on to say. “We have always worked for the betterment of the people while ensuring their basic rights of the country. To date, we have demanded democracy in the parliament, national assembly, committees, and the Senate,” he added.

Speaking of the recently-passed bills, some of which became a bone of contention between the ruling and opposition parties, he said the protest was “about how these were steamrolled in the Senate committee and the members not given enough time to study the legislation or to give their suggestions on them.” “If the government wished for the bills to be uncontroversial, then they should respect the process in the Senate so we can collaboratively save Pakistan from the FATF’s blacklist,” he suggested.