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Summary
The Senators from both sides of the divine continued debate on 18 amendment bill while terming the provincial autonomy a positive step towards development and progress of the provinces as well as the country. Taking part in the debate Senator Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan said that the 18th amendment would be a historical deed of the present government and all political parties leaderships. Lauding the untiring efforts of constitutional committee and particularly Raza Rabbani, he said dictators Gen Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf had badly disfigured the unanimous constitution of 1973 in order to legitimize their illegal rules. He said the present leadership while showing prudence took pragmatic steps for the restoration of 1973 constitution in its true form. Maulana Gul Naseeb said a number of laws existed in the country, however, unfortunately it were not implemented in letter and spirit. He said the 18th amendment bill has many merits including provincial autonomy, repealing of 17 amendment, and identity to Pastoon nation. We are grateful to the political parties, leaderships and government for giving identity to our people and province, he remarked. He said JUI had already passed a resolution to rename NWFP as a Pakhtunkhwa from the provincial assembly. However, now the issue was being politicized for political gain which would vitiate the atmosphere. He said the people of Harzara were loyal and rendered supreme scarifies for the country. Many people belonging to this region had ruled the provincial and federal governments in past. He said neither PML-Q adopted any resolution nor the people of Hazara initiate a moment to rename the name of province. Muhammad Ali Durrani while appreciating the struggle of constitutional committee for bringing 18th amendment bill in the Parliament said that the committee made an impossible task a possible. Taking part in the debate he said renaming of NWFP has become a burning issue and it should be resolved prudently. He said the gap emerged because the issue of renaming was decided outside the committee. He suggested that a special committee comprising members of National and Provincial assemblies and Senate belonging to NWFP should be constituted to sort out the issue and proposed the name for the province in a stipulated time frame. He said it was a good omen to repeal amendments made by the dictators, however, the committee did not touch the laws introduced by Gen Yahya Khan. He said Gen Yahya made Bahawalpur Division a part of Punjab province without the consent of the people of the region.Taking part in debate PML-Q leader Salim Saifullah felicitated Raza Rabbani over formulation of bill and its unanimous passage from National Assembly. Senator Abdul Malik said that though the provincial autonomy has been proposed in the amendment bill but the provinces were not given rights on its resources especially on ports, excise duty and others. He said that the true provincial autonomy could be ascertained by giving due shares to provinces on their resources. He said that the issue of renaming of NWFP provinces should not be talked about to the extend that could affect the 18th amendment bill which was unanimously passed by the National Assembly. He appreciated the amendment bill and the efforts of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional reforms. MQM Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi congratulated Adviser to Prime Minister Raza Rabbani over the bill. He said the provinces were given provincial autonomy to a limited extend, adding that provinces should be rights on ports, excise duty so that they could meet their financial needs. He recommended that under the proposed decentralization of powers, the provinces should be given more powers, which should further be transferred to the local governments so that the masses could be empowered. He condemned misuse of powers by police in Hazara and termed it brutality of police force. He called for strict action against the police officials to avoid such incident in future. Safdar Abbasi paid homage to Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for their struggle for empowerment of people and strengthening of democracy. He appreciated the working of Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms and especially mentioned the insertion of Article 25A in the constitution and said that the right to information, education are the fundamental rights of every citizen. Kazim Khan, Suriya Amiruddin, Jamal Leghari, Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Afrasiyab Khattak, Farhat Abbas, Nilofar Bakhtiar and Ilyat Bilour also spoke on the occasion and appreciated the 18th amendment bill and said members of a sovereign parliament formulated the bill which is a good omen.They said that the challenges being faced by the country could be coped with consensus and harmony, adding that the Parliamentary Committee has successfully achieved this task. Afrasiyab Khattak said that the provincial government of ANP would hold dialogue with Hazara people and address their grievances with harmony. He said ANP has always preferred dialogue on use of powers. He called for FATA reforms for its development, adding that ANP government would definitely concentrate on FATA reforms in order to remove their backwardness.Chairman Senate Farooq H. Naek said that 60 members of the House participated in the debate which was a big achievement.
