Federal govt’s interpretation of 18th Amendment is disingenuous: Bilawal

F.P. Report

KARACHI: The federal government is trying to ruin the efforts made by the provinces to fight the coronavirus, instead of working together, says Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The young PPP leader gave an interview to BBC Urdu. In it, he spoke about the Sindh government’s strategy to fight the virus, the need for unity between the centre and provinces and more.

Bilawal said the federation was interpreting the 18th Amendment incorrectly. He blamed Prime Minister Imran Khan of distancing himself from the provinces and its problems.

“The centre doesn’t think of the 18th amendment when it wants to snatch away hospitals from the provinces like the Jinnah hospital, but relies on it when there is a global pandemic, which is a war-like situation,” Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto  Zardari said, adding that this is disingenuous.

During a crisis, he noted, it was the national leadership’s responsibility to take ownership of matters. Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto  Zardari opined that it was the federal government that should formulate the policy to be implemented on a country-wide level but that there was a lapse in leadership this time.

“When the Centre wants to steal hospitals [from] under the government of Sindh, then no one sees the 18th Amendment. But, when there is a global outbreak of a disease and the country is in a state of war, then they bring up the 18th Amendment — which is extremely unfair,” he underlined.

The PPP young leader said at such a time, the entire country needed to unite and termed PM Imran’s statements as quite irresponsible. “The sliver of doubt in the policy of (PM Imran Khan) gives an impression that the state of Pakistan is not free.

“Governments across the world are abolishing popular decisions and implementing measures that can benefit their public and secure their health,” he said.

Referring to the PM Khan’s telethon for the Corona Relief Fund, Bilawal said even though the donations were for a worthy cause, the premier needed to comprehend that donations were not a solution to everything.

He lamented that no matter which global organisation lauded the work of the Sindh government, the federal government always had some kind of criticism in store.

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Senate chairperson and speaker should decide whether a virtual or in-person session of the National Assembly could be summoned to discuss pertinent national issues and relevant legislation.