With the next elections in sight, the government on Saturday hinted at the grant of provincial autonomy to the federating units within months after amending the Constitution, Minister for Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Saleem Saifullah said during an informal talk with media persons here along with other PML leaders.
However, he strongly advocated for autonomy to the provinces on the pattern of rights given to districts under the devolution of power system. Pakistan Muslim League President Shujaat Hussain ruled out the possibility of early elections and said these would be held on time. "The government is desirous of passing the amendment bill on provincial autonomy from the parliament before the next budget," the minister said.
He said he was working on a paper on giving powers to the provinces that would be presented before the media after Eid-ul-Fitr. He called for giving maximum from the 47-item concurrent list to the provinces.
Saifullah said that the government and all opposition parties shared complete unanimity on the issue. "There is no reason in delaying the grant of more autonomy to the provinces," he emphasised. About Balochistan, he confidently claimed that the situation was under control and law and order had been restored there.
The minister said that 29 out of 35 recommendations aired by the parliamentary subcommittee, headed by Mushahid Hussain had been implemented. Similarly, the Wasim Sajjad-led constitutional committee was finalising its recommendations on the quantum of provincial autonomy to be given to the federating units, Saifullah said.
Likewise, Balochistan's job quota had also been increased to 5 percent and as many as 22,000 employment opportunities created. He added that another 30,000-35,000 jobs would be made available for the people of the province.
The minister said he was happy over the measures taken by the federal government so far to bring the province at par with other provinces. When his attention was drawn towards demands from some nationalists that only 3-4 subjects should be retained by the Centre while the rest should be given to the provinces, he set it aside saying that this can not be done.
He asked the federating units to improve the state of affairs and said that for the country's prosperity and strength, a strong Centre was also imperative. The minister spoke highly of Punjab, saying that the province had made strides in launching various development projects.
"We are playing the role of facilitator for the betterment of the provinces and this is also the aim of President Musharraf and Prime Minister's efforts," Saifullah contended.
He did not agree with the perception that there was no concept of a concurrent list in any part of the globe and said that even in India this list existed and now the government was considering surrendering some items to the states.
Mushahid said he believed that for giving more rights to the provinces, the State institutions would have to be strengthened further. He appreciated Minister Saifullah for bringing the parliamentary committee's recommendations out of the cold storage and ensuring their implementation. He said that as a minister for provincial harmony, Saifullah had done a commendable job so far.
In a candid way, he proposed sending the minister to Afghanistan again for sorting out Pak-Afghan differences and remarked, "Saifullah enjoyed very good relationship with both President Hamid Karzai and former King Zahir Shah."