Centre for Peace and Civil Society Executive Director Jami Chandio said on Saturday Sindhi nationalists were playing on the wrong pitch. He said they needed training.
Addressing a two-day workshop on Issues and Deficits of Pakistan’s Federalism held by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) at a hotel, he said the nationalists thought federalism denied their cultural identity, but their fear was based on misconception. He said when he asked the nationalists to give a substitute to federalism, they said power should be decentralised.
He said unfortunately some political parties in Pakistan promoted unitary federalism in which Centre was mightier than the constitutional units. He said political parties should develop an accommodative culture to resolve the issues facing the country.
He said in almost all federal countries, the right to form new provinces lay with federating units. Inia, he said, was an exception. He said the Centre should devolve this power to the provinces.
He said that out of 194 United Nations members, 28 were federations. He said federalism started in India and Switzerland. The US turned into a federation from confederation, where Centre was weak and the constitutional units strong. He said both Centre and provinces should be powerful. He said the spirit of federalism died when someone abrogated the Constitution. He said diversity was the beauty of federalism.
He said the Charter of Democracy had promised a federal constitutional court, but the promise had not materialised. As a result, the burden of all kinds of cases was still on the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
He said that all federations had the same basic principles but their exercise varied. He said federalism was essential for a country like Pakistan.
Earlier, Olaf Kellerhoff, the FNF representative in Pakistan, introduced his organisation’s objectives in Pakistan. MPA Ayesha Javed also gave a lecture.
Law makers from Punjab, representatives of civil society, lawyers and leaders of various political parties attended the workshop.
The FNF is a Germany-based NGO. It has been organising workshops in Pakistan in cooperation with the FreedomGate Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2013.