Rana Sanaullah Says No Preparations Yet for 28th Amendment; Local Government Powers Key

Islamabad: Senator Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, has said that the decision on whether new provinces are created will be taken in parliament. He said the government has not yet made any preparations on the 28th Amendment that would call for consultation with anyone.

In an interview, he asked whether it seemed workable if legislation were passed now but implemented only after the next elections. Parliament is the forum that will decide whether a referendum is held or not, and it will also determine what the referendum question will be.

According to Rana Sanaullah, every clause of the 26th Constitutional Amendment was debated and then agreed by consensus. He said the Constitutional Court created through the 27th Amendment was the unfinished agenda of the 26th Amendment. In his words, the government favours bringing the amendment to parliament only once it has the numbers.

He said that under the 18th Amendment, powers moved from the federation to the provinces, but the provinces did not pass those powers further down to the local level. He said the real problem is the transfer of powers to the lower tiers, which can be addressed through the provinces, smaller units or the local government system. He added that if a Provincial Finance Commission modelled on the National Finance Commission were established and funds reached union councils, all powers would follow. He asked how local bodies could be strengthened until they receive constitutional protection.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the security cabin

Rana Sanaullah said Pakistan’s current problem is terrorism, not the generator outside Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s house. He said attention should be paid to the problems facing Pakistan and work done on them. If Maulana Fazlur Rehman holds a different view from the government, dialogue with him is possible.

He said that if people had difficulty getting in and out, Maulana Fazlur Rehman could have been asked to remove the cabin and generator. He said he and others had visited the Maulana’s residence many times, and the prime minister and Mohsin Naqvi had also gone there. He said he had not considered the security cabin or generator outside the house an obstacle, but would visit again to see whether they were obstacles.

He said neither the prime minister nor anyone else had raised the notices issued to the Maulana at a cabinet meeting. He said he had stated that the government did not necessarily have to agree with the Maulana’s views, and that disagreement should be expressed with respect. He said he would urge Maulana Fazlur Rehman to control his emotions and anger. He added that the Maulana’s style of challenging and bickering was also inappropriate. He said the prime minister’s level needed to intervene, and that respect should be maintained on both sides.

PTI and meetings

According to Rana Sanaullah, meetings would resume if PTI members stopped misusing the meetings. He said the problem also arose after Salman Safdar’s meeting, when it was claimed, citing him, that the blood pressure had risen. He said this was untrue, and that the PTI founder has no blood pressure problem.

He said there was no negligence in medical treatment, and that whatever the doctors recommended would be implemented immediately. He said there had been no negligence in the PTI founder’s treatment before either.