MINISTER for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz is living up to his reputation of having a fair-minded approach to national issues and making attempts to handle controversies with care. In a tweet on Wednesday, he said that no one can deny importance of national reconciliation and that debate on a constitutional amendment was part of a democratic process adding that nobody was against national consensus.
The Minister expressed his views in the backdrop of the ongoing debate regarding possible review of the famous 18th Amendment to the Constitution that devolved more powers to the federating units and smaller provinces believe attempts are being made to encroach upon the provincial autonomy. However, the Minister has a point in saying that no one has a monopoly on 18th Amendment and debate on the issue was part of the democratic process. There is, of course, no harm in debating different aspects of the Amendment in the light of the practical difficulties that the Centre and the provinces are witnessing in its implementation. No doubt, the Amendment was adopted through consensus but analysts believe it was hurriedly passed without proper consideration to some of the drawbacks in respect of some of the subjects and issues. Therefore, a healthy debate is always welcome as it helps crystallize issues. No one is talking about roll back of the provincial autonomy and even review of the Amendment is not possible until and unless major opposition parties are also on board as the Government lacks the majority to amend the Constitution on its own. However, we would also point out that statements and remarks of some of the Ministers and members of the ruling party convey an impression of non-acceptance of mandate of people in Sindh and this tendency needs to be curbed.
