27th Amendment: Govt to take coalition partners into confidence

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday promised to take all the allied parties and stakeholders into confidence on the planned 27th Amendment and said the draft would be handed over to a committee for a detailed discussion, while also reminding the House how the PTI’s policies towards the TTP had damaged Pakistan.

The deputy prime minister didn’t miss the opportunity to blast the PTI for allowing the TTP terrorists to resettle in Pakistan and said the nation was paying the price for the wrong policies of the party [and its founder Imran Khan].

Earlier on Monday, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry mentioned that there was a nexus between terrorism-crimes- politics and cited Tirah — a valley in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — as an example where he said poppy was cultivated on 12,000 acres of land.

He regretted that some political forces start opposing action against the terrorists present whenever there is talk about any military operation in Tirah and other areas.

Showing how serious the ruling party is about the changes in the Constitution, Dar said the government was bringing the constitutional amendment itself according to the law. Discussions were already underway with the allies on different components of the planned move, he added.

Read more: Hasn’t received formal draft of proposed 27th Amendment: Chan

ARGUMENTS AND COUNTERARGUMENTS

The remarks came as some circles are describing the proposed constitutional amendment an attempt to roll back the 18th Amendment which guaranteed provincial autonomy to the federating units.

However, the financial constraints which the federal government is facing are cited as the reason behind proposed the changes in the National Financial Commission Award (NFC).

That’s why Rana Sanaullah — adviser to the prime minister — said in an interview to ensure balance between the finances of the Centre and the provinces.

Moreover, the complications created by the 26th Amendment that introduced the Supreme Court Constitutional Bench has revived the idea of Constitutional Court as envisaged under the Charter of Democracy.

It was the Charter of Democracy which ensured the return of two former prime ministers — Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — from exile as they joined hand and pressured Pervez Musharraf — the dictator who ruled the country back then.

THERE WILL BE EXTENSIVE DEBATE

Speaking in the Senate, the deputy prime minister advised against making the legislation process something personal and called for debate in a professional manner.

With Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar next to him, Dar said he would ask this cabinet colleague to present the 27th Amendment Bill first in the Senate.

Explaining the process, he said all the coalition partners will have representation in the Senate committee while also taking all the committees, including the Standing Committee on Finance, on board.

Meanwhile, Dar mentioned that the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in Senate was necessary, as the slot is vacant since the disqualification of PTI’s Shibli Faraz.

PTI AND TTP

Dar said terrorism was its peak in 2014, but the PML-N government at that time fought the war against the scourge successfully with courage.

However, the PTI government reversed the gains by committing the blunder of allowing the TTP terrorists to return, he added.

Read more: Having the cup of tea in Kabul proved to be very costly: Dar

Dar hoped that the upcoming round of talks on Nov 5 between Pakistan and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan produce good results.

The reiterated the stance that Pakistan wanted to resolve all the issues with Afghanistan, but the Taliban regime would have to stop the use of Afghan soil against other countries.