“The government’s decision to form new ministries after the passage of the 18th Amendment is unconstitutional,” said Rabbani.
“As Chairman of the Implementation Commission, I had written to the prime minister about the violation of Constitution by forming new ministries in the Centre,” he said, adding, “But nobody listened.”
Before the 18th Amendment, at least 11 ministries had no justification, said Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmad. After its passage the ministries’ existence is unconstitutional, he toldThe Express Tribune. “The government is resisting the process of devolution of power to the provinces,” Khurshid added.
Rabbani was speaking on a point of order, when Nilofar Bakhtiar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q criticised the government for forming another ministry (the Ministry of Heritage), which according to her is unconstitutional after the historic 18th Amendment.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had created seven new federal/state ministries to absorb leftover departments after the devolution of 18 federal ministries to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.
Spurious drugs case
Some senators cited the devolution of the health ministry to provinces under the 18th Amendment as one of the reasons for the death of over 100 patients in the tainted medicines case in Punjab. Rabbani, however, termed their arguments ‘bizarre’.
Meanwhile, Senate Chair-man Farooq Naek referred the matter of the spurious drugs to the Senate Standing Committee of the Cabinet Division. The committee will present its report to the House within 10 days after consulting with all stakeholders.
Earlier, lawmakers across party lines expressed their concerns over the non-existence of a central drug regulatory authority to deal with the alarming situation.
Referring to a personal experience, Senator Kazim Khan termed the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, which had handed out the medicines, a ‘butcher house’.
“Drug companies producing spurious drugs are murdering innocent people,” he observed. Federal Minister for Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain also admitted that death of over 100 innocent people was a result of ‘failed policy’. There should be a regulatory body to keep check on private pharmaceutical companies, he added.
Ishaq Dar linked the spurious drugs issue with ‘ego’ of the federal government. A better regulatory authority to keep check on medicine companies could be formed after building consensus by calling a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI), he said.
Smuggling of illegal weapons
The Air Freight Unit of the Customs Department in Lahore seized over 1,000 prohibited automatic weapons in November 2011, State Minister for Production Khwaja Sheraz Mehmood informed the House.
The inspector of armaments at the General Headquarters declared that the weapons were illegal and revealed that they were imported from Turkey and other countries, he said.
“Cases have been filed against illegal importers and clearance agents,” he replied.
He said that the government is also considering reviewing its policy regarding arms licences.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2012.
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Rabbani needs to elaborate over how the new ministries are 'unconstitutional'. Libraries, museums etc. are in part 1 of the federal legislative list and grouping them under a Ministry does not make it 'unconstitutional'. No federation of the world can exist with just a handful of departments at the centre. There needs to be a balance of power between the centre and the provinces that neither allays provincial autonomy nor leaves a withered, toothless centre.