Federal versus provincial governments: over $800 million aid becomes a bone of contention

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (KP) have virtually expressed no-confidence in the Federal government in the matter of disbursement of more than 800 million dollars foreign aid committed by Friends of Pakistan for the flood affectees and rehabilitation of damaged provincial infrastructure and agriculture sector, sources told Business Recorder here on Friday.
A PML (N) leader who wished not to be named told that PML (N) chief Mian Nawaz Sharif came under severe criticism by his colleagues during a party meeting at his Raiwind residence on Friday for taking a soft stand as the opposition leader against President Asif Ali Zardari on account of failure of the Federal government to provide timely rescue and relief to the flood affected people and providing a helping hand or funds to Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Punjab provinces.
Senior PML (N) leaders claimed that it was President Asif Ali Zardari who vetoed Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Nawaz Sharif's proposal to set up a national commission comprising people whose integrity and honesty is above board to supervise the judicious disbursement of foreign aid among the provinces for rehabilitation of the flood affectees and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure.
He said that President Zardari instead of accepting the opposition's offer of co-operation, is now hurling taunts and ridiculing the PML (N) leadership. "We have learnt that the PPP government has decided to distribute the aid among the affectees itself bye-passing the provincial governments," Shahbaz Sharif said. It may be added that the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa had almost expressed no confidence in the federal government with regard to alloction of funds to the provincial government for rescue, relief and reconstruction of the devastated province.
The provincial Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and other ANP leaders addressed the foreign diplomatic based in Islamabad seeking direct foreign aid to the province. ANP leadership claimed that if the provincial government could not mitigate miseries of the vast majority of the KP flood hit people, then the terrorist Taliban would take-over the province. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in consultation with the KP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti has called for a meeting of the Council of Common Interest to discuss and decide the criteria of distribution of the foreign aid among the provinces for relief and rehabilitation of infrastructure and economies.