ZAB's birth anniversary on Jan 5

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh has announced that the 98th birth anniversary of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will be observed on January 5 across all district headquarters of the province. The party also reiterated that it will not allow any rollback of the 18th Constitutional Amendment or Sindh's share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro said this in a statement issued on Thursday. He said district party organizations would hold commemorative events in their respective areas, including cake-cutting ceremonies, to pay rich tribute to the party's founder.

Khuhro said democracy in Pakistan owes much to the Bhutto family, adding that the PPP will continue to play its full role for the supremacy of the Constitution, Parliament, and the continuity of democracy. He said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto made Pakistan a nuclear power, while Shaheed Benazir Bhutto endowed the country with missile technology, asserting that the people of Pakistan and the armed forces are capable of responding decisively to any hostile designs.

Rejecting speculation about new provinces, Khuhro said no new province is being created, nor will any be formed in Sindh. He termed such claims as political point-scoring and said the PPP would not allow any harm to Sindh's unity.

He further said the PPP would continue to defend Sindh's rights at every stage, as it had opposed canal projects in the past. Emphasizing that provinces cannot be penalized for the Federal Board of Revenue's (FBR) failure to collect taxes, he said the Constitution allows an increase-but not a reduction-in provincial shares under the NFC.