Going by what’s written in PTI’s manifesto, the answer to that question is a ‘yes’. But that which is not written suggests that strengthening the federation isn’t necessarily their top priority. Here is why!
Let’s take a quick account of the eight explicit measures the PTI wants to undertake to strengthen the federation. It wants to – and rightly so - expedite the integration of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; launch a Mega FATA Development Plan and begin the process of extending all laws to the tribal areas. One expects these plans to roll out in the first 100 days, considering the ball is already in motion, even if it is slow motion.
The party has also promised political and socio-economic empowerment of Gilgit Baltistan; the former by giving autonomy to its legislative assembly. While this will strengthen the federation, the step may be a tough sell given the security lens with which such political developments are evaluated; but that should not prevent the PTI from at least initiating legal consultations.
The manifesto says the party wants to address the concerns of Balochistan, where it wants to empower the provincial government to launch and champion large-scale efforts for political reconciliation; ensure significant local participation in development projects, in particular the development of Gwadar. If implemented, this could address the concerns of Bloch people in light of the distribution of CPEC endowments, albeit, reallocating CPEC endowments will need a nod from the Chinese who are not easy task masters.
The PTI also wants to spearhead the creation of a South Punjab province along administrative lines. While the step can strengthen the federation, passing the bill will not be easy job considering that Article 239 (4) of the constitution demands that any alteration of limits of a province must be passed by the provincial government by at least two-third of its membership.
Even if the PTI makes a government in Punjab, it won’t enjoy two-third majority. Be that as it may, the PTI must walk the talk and at least present a bill in Punjab assembly for the creation of a new province, which can stir a much-needed debate forcing politicians to draw their battle lines on this subject.
The party also wants to launch a transformation plan for Karachi – prioritising governance, security, housing and infrastructure, mass transit, solid waste management and a clean drinking water plan. Perhaps this is why Karachi has voted for PTI in vast proportions. But this will also be a difficult promise to achieve considering that PTI cannot make a government in Sindh, whereas since 18th amendment it is the provincial governments that control the fate of its denizens.
There are four other ideas the PTI clubbed as measures to strengthen federation: (a) initiate poverty alleviation drive across Pakistan’s poorest districts; (b) ensure constitutional rights for minorities; (c) promote gender parity; and (d) ensure a greater stake for overseas Pakistanis. But as such these would have little impact towards the strengthening of federation.
What would strengthen the federation much more are the following measures that are at least as important as FATA merger, new provinces, and the addressing of political and economic development / empowerment of GB and Balochistan.
The passing of an NFC award had been delayed by the PML-N government on one excuse or another. One expects the incoming government to set the ball in motion and try to get a new award, even if it is just to incorporate new facts on the ground such as FATA merger, census and new poverty estimates. The incoming government should form a parliamentary commission to develop some kind of mechanism or change of law that ensures periodic passing of the NFC award at every five years.
A related reform that can potentially strengthen the federation is tax reassignments. The PTI promises to empower people at grass roots through local government. It also says that learning from its experience in the KP; it will further refine the local government structure, and introduce a city government model, where a directly elected mayor will be responsible to deliver on all interrelated urban city matters. In this light, the subject of tax reassignments needs to be at least brought to the table, even if actual implementation is postponed on account of challenging ground realities.
Third, is the strengthening of the Council of Common Interests and the Ministry of Interprovincial Coordination? The importance of these cannot be emphasized enough for the sake of a stronger federation and smooth federal and provincial coordination.
On that note, the incoming government would also do well to complete the unfinished agenda of 18th amendment where legal and institutional mechanisms for all the devolved subjects were required to be completely devised by December 2015. That failure is also responsible for weak federal-provincial coordination that in turn is affecting growth in various economic sectors.
Unlike the subject of new provinces or transformation of Karachi – one of which is politically difficult, and other is administratively difficult – the issues highlighted above lie squarely in federal government’s domain and are also much less political. The unfortunate bit is that none of these much-needed reforms are mentioned in PTI’s manifesto. Hence, the answer to the question posed at the top is a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’.