Amidst controversy over the federal government’s ownership of vertical programmes such as TB and AIDS, the Senate on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution to constitute a special committee of the House to examine the steps taken by the federal government on the devolution process initiated under the 18th amendment. In addition, the committee will also look into procedural complexities that might uncover a Pandora’s Box of problems on the legal and constitutional front.
The resolution was moved by Treasury Senator Raza Rabbani, who opposes the government’s move for retaining the vertical programmes. Rabbani moved the motion under Rule 204 of the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business, and the bill was adopted unanimously by the House. The committee has been given three months to submit a report on the devolution process. Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said the composition of the committee would be decided later after consultations with the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition, besides defining its terms of reference. Earlier when asked on the matter, Law Minister Farooq H Naek said that the minister for inter-provincial coordination would be in a better position to explain why the federation was holding on to the vertical programmes despite their devolution to the provinces under the 18th Amendment. Naek said the subject came in the purview of the provinces, but under Article 147 of the constitution, any provincial government could entrust its powers to the federal government but the same would have to be approved by the respective assemblies within 60 days.
Hasil Bazenjo told the House that the provincial authorities of Balochistan had informed him that they had not been consulted by the federation on these vertical programmes. Opposition Leader Ishaq Dar referred to a letter written by the principal secretary to prime minister on October 4, 2011, narrating details on how the federation was retaining the programmes on the pretext of safeguarding vital support being provided by international partner agencies, which have no independent authority. He demanded that the minister concerned should be called to the House to explain why the federal government was acting contrary to the devolution programme. Devolution of subjects to the provinces has been a major bone of contention between the federation and the provincial government, as according to Senator Rabbani, “There are areas where huge sums of money are involved.” Revisiting the devolution process at this juncture is unlikely to get unanimity as was witnessed at the time of passage of the 18th Amendment.
PML-N walkout: The House witnessed a walkout by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who is holding office despite conviction in the contempt of court case. The PML-Quaid, a coalition partner of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), also staged a protest against power outages and ministers’ absence from the House.
