Fazl vows to resist reversal of provincial powers, says 27th amendment bill yet to appear
ISLAMABAD:
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday warned that attempts to “manufacture” a two-thirds parliamentary majority for the proposed 27th Constitutional Amendment would damage democracy, saying his party would strongly resist any move to restrict provincial autonomy.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the JUI-F parliamentary party, Fazl said the government is yet to present a formal draft of the amendment.
“No text of the 27th Amendment has been shared so far,” he said, adding that during the 26th Amendment, the government had “withdrawn 35 clauses,” and warned that if any of those withdrawn provisions were reintroduced, his party would be adamantly opposed.
Asked if the amendments to Article 243 were the same as those initially included in the 26th Amendment, Fazl said: “If these changes negatively affect politics or democracy, we will oppose them. But if they simply provide administrative clarity, we can support them.”
The JUI-F leader denounced political maneuvering to gather a two-thirds majority for constitutional changes. “This type of numerical calculation is an insult to democracy and parliament,” he said.
“If there is any attempt to reduce the provincial powers granted under the 18th Amendment, we will resist it. We will not allow anyone to plunder provincial rights. The powers must be expanded, not restricted.”
Fazl stressed that the 18th Amendment had been a consensus-based reform. “There were no two opposing sides in that process. Each party contributed and parliament passed it unanimously after exhaustive deliberation,” he recalled.
“We were told to pass it in three days, but it took a month. We will review the size and scope of this new amendment before deciding when and how it should be passed.” He also reiterated that his party did not consider the current assembly to be truly representative of the public.
“No real measures are being taken to register madrassas and efforts are being made to make religious seminaries dependent on the Ministry of Education,” he lamented.
“There has also been no visible progress in eliminating interest-based financial systems.”
Earlier, the JUI-F parliamentary party met at Fazl’s residence, attended by both members of the National Assembly and senators.
His statement came a day after PPP president Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said his party would oppose any clause in the 27th Amendment that reduced provincial shares while supporting proposed changes to Article 243, which deals with the command and appointment of the armed forces.
Bilawal told reporters after a PPP Central Executive Committee meeting that while the party supported adjustments to Article 243, it “completely rejected” suggestions to decrease provincial allocations.
