HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said Pakistan is gradually being pushed towards authoritarianism and warned the federal government against “occupying” and “controlling” Karachi from Islamabad.

He said that all stakeholders in the country, including the judiciary, military and political forces, should work while staying within their respective domains.

Speaking at a programme of the Hyderabad Press Club on Thursday, Mr Bhutto-Zardari dwelt at length on “attempts by undemocratic forces to subvert democracy” and the “federal government’s inability to govern the country properly”.

Says political forces and media should join hands to protect freedoms

The PPP chairman was of the opinion that the “selected government and undemocratic forces” had found new ways to attack democracy, the Constitution and the media. “All those gains like continuity of democracy, smooth transition of power, freedom of media and judiciary are being snatched away,” he said.

“(Before the present government) the journey of continuity in democracy was continuing slowly and we were able to say that Pakistan is transitioning away from military dictatorship and authoritarianism and towards a peaceful, democratic and progressive Pakistan. (But now) it is being pushed towards dictatorship and authoritarianism,” he remarked.

The media which had gained freedom is now being intimidated. People are being deprived of their rights but nothing appears in the mainstream media.

He said the political parties and the media needed to jointly wage a fight to protect their rights. “The 18th Constitution Amendment is continuity of the 1973 Constitution for a federalist system which ensures progress of the country. Thirty years of Benazir Bhutto’s struggle can be summed up in one phrase — restoration of the 1973 Constitution,” he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said on the one hand the federal government and the undemocratic forces were attacking the 18th Amendment and denying due rights to the provinces and on the other they were usurping the provinces’ powers.

Citing an example, he said the federal government first tried to snatch institutions like the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in Karachi away from Sindh in an amateurish manner and then claimed they could not provide funds for these major health centres.

Mr Bhutto Zardari warned the federal government against “occupying Karachi” and said his party would not tolerate any conspiracy against the capital of Sindh.

He termed a move by the federal government to look into the problems of the metropolis an attempt to weaken the federation. Managing Karachi from Islamabad was no solution to the problems at hand.

He wondered why the federal government didn’t take similar steps when rain-related problems surfaced in Lahore and Peshawar. “Those who have been elected from Sindh and become part of the federal government should resign... They will themselves be responsible for how people of Sindh will deal with them.”

Turning to the formation of a committee for Karachi, he said: “On the one hand a narrative is being created against (Narendra) Modi for his unconstitutional annulling of special status of India-held Kashmir and on the other an attempt is being made to occupy Karachi.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan is being projected as a saviour of Kashmir although he has buried democracy in Pakistan and imprisoned the political leadership of the country.

“To run a country like Pakistan is not a cricket match. Pakistan belongs to the people of different languages.”

He said that Pakistan had to endure dismemberment when such a mindset was last seen in Islamabad and the province that was no less patriotic than the other ones separated from the country.

The PPP chairman said the 1973 Constitution protects a province’s natural resources by ensuring that people of the area where they have been discovered use it first. But the federal government tries to use Sindh’s gas in other parts of the country without allowing the fuel’s use in Sindh, forcing its people to consume expensive fuel like LNG.

“The prime minister had no qualms in saying in Sindh that the 18th Amendment is causing bankruptcy of the federation. People know the facts that the federal government is unable to manage its finances and the provinces in fact are facing bankruptcy due to it,” the PPP chairman said.

“The federal government cannot collect taxes. It has failed and due to the incompetent puppet government every province is getting lesser finances,” Mr Bhutto Zardari said.

“When 80 per cent of the budget is diverted towards debt servicing and defence expenditure, only 20pc is left for spending on the poor. It was Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who broke the status quo on economic injustices and it has to be broken now,” he said.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP Sindh’s president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, the party’s information secretary Maula Bux Chandio and Sindh’s information minister Saeed Ghani were prominent among those who were present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2019