Pre-poll rigging? K-P, Sindh suspect Centre will gobble their funds

Two provincial govts press centre to release their pending development cash

ISLAMABAD: The recent One Belt, One Road summit might have seen the four provincial chief ministers come together with the prime minister, a thaw in otherwise strained relations between the federal government and the provinces, yet things are likely to be ‘back to square one’ in the backdrop of a looming tiff between the centre and federating units stemming from funding disputes.

As the financial year nears its close, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh are pressing the federal government to release their outstanding funds amounting to billions of rupees.

Reportedly, representatives from both the provinces, including the senior provincial government functionaries, have held a series of meetings with federal government officials assigned to financial matters but these meetings have failed to bear any fruit and the funding disputes linger.



Sources told The Express Tribune that K-P seeks Rs80 billion from the centre before the lapse of the current financial year on June 30. However, the centre has declined to pay this ‘huge’ amount citing funding constraints. The K-P government has also asked federal authorities to pay the amount in installments, if lump sum payment not possible, but no headway has been made in this regard either.

“The general polls are not very far and each and every penny is valuable for us,” said a senior PTI leader assigned to government affairs in K-P, requesting anonymity.

“We even asked them [federal government officials] to pay some amount, so that we can spend on development projects but they said they ‘too need funds for development’. They are going to gobble our funds this year too, the way they did last year,” he stated.



Speaking to The Express Tribune, Political Coordinator to Chief Minister K-P and Regional President PTI Zar Gul Khan confirmed that some Rs80 billion was needed for the province to continue development schemes.

“K-P’s total annual budget is Rs113 billion and Rs80 billion are payable by the centre under different heads for this year and previous years. So, you can well imagine our plight. The federal government has the right to pursue development schemes but not at our cost. If the PML-N thinks that by snatching our rights they would win the general polls after introducing cosmetic development schemes, they are seriously mistaken. People will not fall for their political gimmickry.”

The government needs to pay more than Rs200 billion to Sindh under different heads, before the completion of the ongoing fiscal year 2016-17, the sources said.



A senior PPP leader, wishing anonymity, said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah made multiple attempts to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but his office has not responded so far.

Sources said that both Sindh CM and K-P CM Pervaiz Khattak have decided to take up the funding issue with the premier during their visit to China on the sidelines of the One Belt, One Road summit but they were given a cold shoulder on the pretext that— “this was not the time and place to discuss these issues”.

PM’s Adviser Ameer Muqam, however, denied that funds were payable to K-P and Sindh on part of the centre. “We have cleared most of their outstanding dues. There are some issues regarding the arrears from the previous years that would too be resolved soon. It’s not about funds, anyway.”

He cited ‘political jealousy’ as the main motive behind Sindh and K-P’s agitation.



“Both of them [K-P and Sindh] have opened their eyes to unending development schemes by the federal government in the two provinces. Now the provincial governments are cribbing and crying in the name of funding issues because none of them have the capability to introduce a single scheme like Hazara Motorway in K-P or Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System in Karachi.”

PPP bigwig and Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah termed the non-provision of funds to the Sindh government by centre as ‘part of pre-poll rigging.’

“This is pre-poll rigging, typical of PML-N. They [PML-N leadership] have time to dole out bribes, buy the loyalties of people, set up offshore companies in Panama but they don’t have funds to give the provinces their due share. The policies of federal government are fuelling sense of deprivation among provinces. The highhanded methods to deprive PPP of its public mandate would fail and PPP would be in power at the centre and provinces. It’s just a matter of months.”