- PPP secured provincial representation in SC, FCC: Bilawal.
- Says PPP’s support a must for the government to amend the constitution.
- Inflation heavily affecting citizens across Pakistan: Bilawal.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday ruled out any immediate discussions with the federal government on a potential 28th constitutional amendment and said he would comment if there were any developments.
“No negotiations have yet taken place on the 28th Amendment; [but] I don’t know about tomorrow,” he said while addressing the PPP’s parliamentary party meeting.
During the meeting, Bilawal said that he himself had spoken about the 27th Amendment, noting that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments had secured provincial rights.
He added that PPP’s efforts ensured representation of all provinces in the Supreme Court and Federal Constitutional Court.
His remarks follow State Attorney General Aqeel Malik’s statement, rejecting the impression that the potential 28th Amendment would roll back on the 18th.
“This impression is being created that if the 28th Amendment is introduced, it is a rollback of the 18th Amendment – I think that an extremely false impression is being created,” Malik said during Pakinomist news‘ program “Capital Talk”.
The minister added that there was currently no official work underway on a constitutional amendment, but acknowledged that broader national issues had previously been discussed.
The 18th Amendment – passed under the PPP-led government in 2010 – has sparked many debates in the past with calls to amend it. However, the PPP has strongly objected to such proposals and has vowed to oppose any tweaking of the amendment.
Meanwhile, the PPP chief constituted a four-member committee — comprising MNAs Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Naveed Qamar and Senators Saleem Mandviwala and Sherry Rehman — for budget talks with the federal government.
According to Bilawal, the federal government would not be able to amend the constitution or pass the budget without his party’s support.
He warned that the upcoming budget could bring more hardship to the public.
Pakistan was facing an economic crisis, he said, warning that inflation was greatly affecting citizens across the country.
The PPP chief said political parties were also feeling the sufferings of the public, adding that he welcomed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s relief measures in difficult times.
The prime minister had requested the provinces to help the federation in curbing inflation, he said, adding that the PPP would work with the federal government to ease the financial pressure on the public.
He maintained that no offer had been made to him regarding the Iran-US war and negotiations, while expressing hope that negotiations between Tehran and Washington would succeed in the future.
