ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, Germany, Canada and America have certain similarities in their federalism but every society has its own problems and traditions. The spirit of federalism is fresh in Pakistan which needs debates among politicians to harmonise the system.
These were the views of speakers at a seminar on International Experiences of Federalism at the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Quaid-i-Azam University on Monday.
Speakers said Germany and Canada are federal states as the former is divided into 16 federal provinces with each exhibiting a certain degree of sovereignty. Similarly, Canada consists of 11 provinces possessing considerable sovereignty.
Dieter Wolkewitz, chief technical specialist of the Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralisation Project of the UNDP and Dr David Jones of Dalhousie University, Canada shared their respective countries’ experiences regarding federalism.
Wolkewitz said America, Canada and Pakistan have some similarities in their origins as three countries were British colonies and have federal constitutions.
“Germany gained sovereignty after the Second World War, and after unification it brought two systems together. Nine provinces have now become 16,” said Wolkewitz.
“There are 16 agriculture and education systems in Germany which need to be harmonised voluntarily and not on a binding basis by the constitution,” he shared.
It is much easier for a country with a federal structure than a centralised one to take account of regional characteristics and problems, shared Wolkewitz.
He stated that in Germany, the distribution of responsibilities between the federation and provinces is an essential element of the power-sharing arrangement.
Sharing Germany’s internal system of governance, he said the federation’s lawmaking powers fall into three different categories, namely exclusive, concurrent or framework legislation. Areas of legislation which fall within the exclusive purview of the federation are foreign affairs, defence, monetary matters, air transport and some elements of taxation. There are also a number of other supra-regional tasks which, though not mentioned in the basic law, are jointly planned, regulated and financed by the federation and the states, he informed.
Dr Jones was of the view that the Canadian constitution gives each level of government certain specified powers to make laws and anything not specified are deemed to be a responsibility of the provincial parliament. This residual power of provincial legislatures represents one of the most important provisions regarding the separation of powers. He said federal-provincial relations have been evolving since 1967 and provinces are gradually becoming more powerful.
Dr Sajid Awan, head in-charge of the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, in his welcome address, said it was always nice to crossbreed ideas and enhance your knowledge with exchange experiences.
The seminar was organised by Pakistan Study Group on Federalism.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ