Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Monday expressed confidence that the changes relating to local governments sought by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) would be addressed in the next constitutional amendment planned for the “coming months”.
Kamal made these remarks during a press conference in Karachi, less than a week after the controversial 27th Constitutional Amendment was enacted amid protests from the opposition and other sectors.
When the 27th Amendment was tabled in the National Assembly on November 11, Kamal referred to Article 140-A of the Constitution, which relates to local governments, and said his party’s proposed amendments are “not dead yet” and would be discussed as part of the 28th Amendment.
Speaking to the media today, he said changes were initially proposed for inclusion in the 26th Amendment, which was passed by Parliament during a night session in October last year.
Kamal then thanked other parties, including the ruling PML-N, and “individual friends of the PPP” and “many friends of the PTI” for “openly supporting” the MQM-P’s changes related to local governments.
He said the proposed changes were discussed at length for more than six hours at the parliamentary standing committee meeting convened to deliberate on the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
“We had enough numbers […] We had won our case in the standing committee. We had the numbers. We had the support of the PML-N and others,” he said. “But the PPP was not willing to support the [inclusion of] our invoice [on local governments] on the 27th Amendment, which resulted in a stalemate,” he added, clarifying that he was not making any accusation by saying so.
Kamal said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the ruling PML-N requested the MQM-P to once again postpone the proposed changes as the Amendment included crucial provisions related to Pakistan’s military and judiciary, Kamal said.
“They assured us that everyone supported the bill. They asked for one more chance, assuring that this would be included in the next amendment,” he added.
More to follow
