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Mumtaz asks govt to define Centre, provinces' powers

RECORDER REPORT

HYDERABAD: The Chairman of Sindh National Front and former Sindh chief minister, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, has said that while announcing the formula of district governments, it would have been more appropriate for the Chief Executive to define the limits placed on the authority of the Centre and transfer of powers to the provinces.

In a statement, he said, by first announcing the pattern of district governments, the cart has been placed before the horse and serious doubts had arisen about the intentions of the federal government.

Bhutto said that it was apprehended that the provinces were being eliminated and the district governments were being set up under the control of the federal government thereby bringing back the accursed one unit.

He called upon the federal government to immediately clarify the position and declare in unequivocal terms that district governments will exist under the control of the provincial governments which will be given more powers as were formerly exercised by the federal government.

He demanded that the portfolios of defence, foreign affairs, currency and customs as envisaged in the Pakistan Resolution should remain with the Centre while all other powers will be transferred to the provinces.