PPP to resist move to slash provinces’ NFC share

18th Amendment, NFC award have strengthened federation, says Qamar Zaman Kaira

LAHORE: PPP Punjab leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the federation has strengthened because of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and the PTI led federal government must not try to fiddle with these two elements of the Constitution.

“They [government] are saying that the NFC needs to be revised. We have repeatedly warned that this cannot happen. The resources of the provinces will have to be increased.

“They cannot be reduced. The provinces are giving resources to the federation, not the latter to the provinces,” Kaira said on Tuesday while addressing a new conference in Punjab’s provincial capital.

The NFC award is meant to distribute financial resources among the federal government, and the provinces. It includes distribution of taxes collected by the federal government which form a divisible pool. This pool includes taxes on income including corporate tax, sales tax and export duties, etc.

According to Article 160 of the Constitution, after every five years the president constitutes the NFC for a period of five years. Once there is a consensus of all stakeholders on a particular formula to distribute the finances, the award is implemented for the next five years.

The 18th Amendment was passed by the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, during the PPP government. The amendment removed the power of the president of Pakistan to dissolve parliament unilaterally while also increasing provincial autonomy.

The PTI government has been hinting at revising the 18th amendment and readjusting the NFC award. Criticizing these attempts, Kaira said the NFC and the 18th Amendment strengthened the federation

“Because of these provisions, nationalist and separatist movements in the country have weakened. Sharing powers and resources has not weakened the federation,” he said.

The PPP leader said the real issue is not distribution of resources but accumulation of resources

“The country disintegrated due to nonfulfillment of the 1940 resolution and promises made by Quaid-e-Azam to the provinces. We fulfilled the promises of the founders through the 1973 Constitution and then the 18th amendment,” he said.

He said the share of provinces in the NFC can be increased but not reduced. “We will stop any attempt to reduce the share of the provinces. If we fail to stop the government, we will return the financial resources to the provinces when we come to power,” he said.

The PPP leader also lambasted the federal government for its failure to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and asked it to give an account of Rs1,250 billion it claimed to have spent to provide relief to the masses hit hard by the pandemic-induced lockdown.

He also took exception to the Supreme Court’s Monday’s decision to lift restrictions on business activities and said the apex court must not interfere in the executive affairs.