- PPP stalwart cautions against ‘recentralisation’ of powers to Centre, saying proposed changes would roll back provincial autonomy gains
- Warns tampering with 18th Amendment could deepen national divides, calling move a financial burden that weakens participatory federalism
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani on Tuesday cautioned that the government’s proposed constitutional changes — reportedly forming part of a 27th Amendment—would effectively roll back the landmark 18th Constitutional Amendment, warning that tampering with provincial autonomy could cast “deep shadows over the federation.”
The senior parliamentarian’s statement came a day after the PPP confirmed that it had been approached by its coalition partner, the PML-N-led federal government, to seek support for the proposed amendment. The move has drawn sharp criticism from across the political and legal spectrum, with many terming it an attempt to recentralize powers devolved to provinces under the 18th Amendment.
“The proposed constitutional amendments of the federal government, with reference to provincial autonomy, amount to a rollback of the 18th Amendment,” Rabbani said, adding that in the current brittle political climate, such actions would “undermine national cohesion and destabilise the federation.”
He noted that the 18th Amendment, passed in 2010, had defused longstanding tensions by transferring multiple ministries—including education and population—to the provinces, thereby strengthening participatory federalism.
Rabbani cautioned that reversing these gains would “revive extreme nationalist narratives” and impose a financial burden on the Centre. “If the federal government cannot manage its finances, let the provinces collect taxes and fund federal expenditures through the Council of Common Interests,” he proposed.
Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik confirmed ongoing discussions regarding the amendment but clarified that no draft has yet been finalised.
Rabbani, a key architect of the 18th Amendment, has consistently opposed any move to dilute its provisions. In 2019, he accused the then PTI government of plotting to undo the law, and in 2015, he voted “against his conscience” for the 21st Amendment, weeping in the Senate over what he viewed as an erosion of parliamentary democracy.
