PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday warned that anyone trying to revoke constitutional guarantees relating to provincial rights under the 18th Amendment was like “playing with fire”.
Bilawal made the remarks in a video speech to mark the 58th founding day of the PPP, and his speech was broadcast live in “more than 100 districts” across the country, according to the party.
Bilawal recalled that the ruling PML-N had also proposed constitutional adjustments related to the financial rights of the provinces under the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, which were later rejected by the PPP and did not make it to the final version of the 27th Amendment.
“The PPP believes that there were many failings in this country and they persist,” Bilawal said, adding that the PPP had tried to address them 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 similar issues, or are thinking about doing so, it is as if they are playing with fire,” Bilawal warned.
Observing that the government “could see” that the Indian Defense Minister made aggressive statements about Sindh and that tensions were building on the Afghan border, Bilawal said: “We will do everything possible to see that the internal failures in Pakistan are addressed, rather than giving any force the opportunity to misuse or take advantage of our failures.”
The PPP president said that if united, the country has the capacity to confront any adversary, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and “all kinds of conspiracies.”
Bilawal praised his party for “saving the constitutional guarantee of financial participation of the provinces.”
“They (PML-N) wanted to recover the system of executive judiciary; they wanted to recover the issues of education and population control that had been transferred to the provinces in the 18th Amendment. […] Likewise, the government had other wishes,” he noted.
“I have been protecting their rights and, God willing, I will continue to do so,” the PPP scion promised, adding that his party was ready to support any decision that would strengthen the federation.
“But the PPP can never support a decision that weakens the federation or through which the rights of the province are usurped,” he said.
‘The FCC will prove those who try to make it controversial wrong’
During his speech, Bilawal also spoke about the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) established under the 27th Amendment, a measure that the PPP had long advocated but which was omitted from the 26th Amendment.
“Some people are trying to make this constitutional court controversial,” he said, adding that he hoped the FCC would “prove everyone wrong through its character.”
In a message to those “political forces that wanted to make a parliamentary measure controversial,” the head of the PPP stressed that it was the responsibility of parliament and public representatives to enact legislation.
“If anyone demands that a court or a judge decide whether the amendment can remain or not, it is not their authority and we will not allow any other institution to interfere in parliament,” Bilawal warned.
The 27th Amendment and the FCC created through it have been at the center of heated debate. The FCC has dethroned the Supreme Court as the country’s primary judicial forum, and international experts and judges have expressed concerns about judicial independence.
“[The FCC]That institution and its judges have a great responsibility on their shoulders. While representing the Centre, they have to monitor our constitutional issues and judicial independence,” Bilawal said.
He expressed hope that the FCC would try to “restore people’s trust [in the judiciary] and become a court that prioritizes the Constitution, the law and does justice.”
The PPP scion said it was “definitely his wish” that a constitutional amendment be passed by consensus. However, he stressed: “If not with consensus, then this work was done by majority and by parliament, so only parliament has the power to review that decision or not.”
“We hope that the constitutional court will examine the most important constitutional and political issues of this country, and that our former Supreme Court of Pakistan will examine all criminal matters,” Bilawal said.
Scoffing at what his party considered judicial activism, Bilawal said he hoped the FCC would not be a court that would “go out and build dams, destroy the houses of the poor, decide the prices of tomatoes and samosas, send home democratic governments or disqualify prime ministers for not writing a letter.”
“We are about to address a major judicial failure in the form of the constitutional court,” Bilawal said.
He added that this new setup would allow ordinary citizens to get “immediate relief” in criminal cases, which the SC will focus on.
“We not only comply with the [promise] to create a constitutional court but also ensured the equitable representation of the provinces in that court,” he highlighted.
