KARACHI, Jan 22: The Pakistan People’s Party has expressed its strong reservations over the recently promulgated Distribution of Revenues and Grants-in-Aid (Amendment) Order-2006 and termed it ‘patently unconstitutional’. The spokesperson on finance for the Sindh chapter of PPP-Parliamentarians, Shazia Marri (MPA), while addressing a press conference along with MPAs Jam Mehtab Dahar and Syed Irfan Ali Shah, said that Gen Pervez Musharraf had ‘fraudulently’ used clause (6) of Article 160 of the Constitution which read: “At any time before an Order under clause (4) is made, the President may, by Order, make such amendments or modifications in the law relating to the distribution of revenues between the federal government and the provincial governments as he may deem necessary or expedient.”

The clause (4) referred to is the one under which the president announces a new award after receiving recommendations of the NFC.

“The self-assumed president could make this amendment before the NFC was announced as was done in 1997. Gen Musharraf was not president in that year and, therefore, he cannot, by right, amend the 1997 NFC Award. How can he make this amendment in an award announced almost nine years back?”

Ms Marri stated that the 1997 Award had been agreed to by a caretaker set-up, and the structure had been changed to the extreme detriment to the provinces. The provinces had been made to agree on the federal/provincial ratio of 62.5:37.5 from the 20:80, she pointed out.

Sindh has been losing an average Rs25 billion a year since 1997 due to the 1997 NFC Award as compared to that of 1970 (announced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto government), she noted, adding that this loss had started incurring when the followers of the present regime were at the helm of affairs. She recalled that Farooq Leghari was the president and the present set-up, including the MQM, was ruling over the country. “They should arrange to deposit this loss in Sindh’s account,” she stressed.

Even the increase announced by Gen Musharraf was far less than what the provinces would have received if the 1975 Award of the PPP government was in effect, she observed.

The PPP spokesperson maintained that constitutionally, the 1997 NFC Award had expired in June 2002. Since October 1999, Shaukat Aziz has been in charge of the finance ministry and has been the head of the NFC. Under Article 160(1), it is the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the president for a new NFC Award. It is beyond doubt that the NFC and its head, from 1999 to 2004, (Shaukat Aziz) miserably failed to perform their constitutional duty. However, for disregarding the constitution without any qualms (hence following in General Musharraf’s footsteps), Shaukat Aziz was rewarded by the president, who brought him in as the prime ministership, Marri alleged.

Terming the latest NFC illegal, she elaborated the ‘dubious’ merits of the same. She said that according to the general’s announcement, the percentage share of provinces from the net proceeds of taxes and duties in the financial year 2006-07 would be 41.5 per cent. This, she said, was a shame, since in 2005, the general and his associates had boasted that the provinces had reached an agreement on receiving 47 per cent to begin with. She observed that this ‘eyewash’ had failed to appease people because instead of formulating something new, the general had, in fact, regressed. She claimed that if prime minister Z. A. Bhutto’s Award would have been in force till date, the share of the provinces would have been 60 per cent of the total receipts in the divisible pool.

Ms Marri explained that the figure of 45.33 per cent quoted by the general was inflated as he had added the additional 2.5 per cent GST collected by the federation in lieu of the octroi, which was supposed to be distributed among the provinces on the basis of the octroi collection at the point it was abolished in 1998. Moreover, she added, in order to make his unpalatable package more attractive, the general had added GST on services in the pool which was purely a provincial tax. This tax is being colleted by the federal government on behalf of provinces.

In fact, during the budget session in 2005, the parliamentary party of the PPP had submitted legislation to enable the provincial government to collect this tax. The treasury, keeping to its true self, did not support this legislation as it did not want to antagonize the general or the federal government. However, it brought a little benefit to the treasury members as the general did not bother even consulting the Sindh cabinet before announcing his ‘personal’ NFC solution.

Gen Musharraf is weakening the political and social fabric of the country, she said.