ISLAMABAD: Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani said on Sunday that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would never compromise on the 18th Am­e­­ndment in Constitut­ion and hoped that all democratic forces would defend it.

In a statement, the PPP leader said that some elements had problem with former president and party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari because the latter had made parliament independent and powerful. Moreover, he added, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan were given their identity during Mr Zardari’s tenure.

“Asif Zardari is also being blamed for giving powers to the provinces. We are confronting with a mentality which used to say that Benazir Bhutto was security risk,” Mr Ghani said, adding that the opponents of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were criticising Mr Zardari for their self-satisfaction.

“The PPP has resisted anti-democratic forces in the past and are still resisting these forces. Vilification campaign against Mr Zardari is old tactics of anti-democratic forces, but the PPP will defeat them as it has done in the past,” he said.

Talking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Zardari had claimed that action being taken against him and his friends was part of a conspiracy to roll back the 18th Amendment. He said that even those with whom he spoke over the phone were arrested, adding that he would not be surprised if he was also arrested. He said the real issue behind all actions planned against him was the 18th Amendment that the PPP government had introduced to devolve power to the provinces.

Former Senate chairman and senior PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani has also been alleging that efforts are being made to roll back the 18th Amendment.

Responding to a calling attention notice during the last National Assembly session, Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi had criticised the 18th Amendment and said he was not able to go to police stations in Karachi. Mr Afridi had earlier visited a few police stations in Rawalpindi and ordered suspension of two police officials, but his directives were not implemented.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2018

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