I believe the 17th Amendment is an excellent thing. Is ANP correct when it says that the PML-N only wants to win over the sympathies of people of the Punjab, and not of the whole country?
Pakistan News Service - PakTribune
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ANP not to support PML-N in repealing 17th Amendment
ISLAMABAD: The Awami National Party (ANP) has said that it would not support the bid by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to repeal the 17th Amendment from the Constitution as a complete constitutional package in the name of 18th Amendment must be introduced and passed from parliament. It says that the PML-N only wants to win over the sympathies of people of the Punjab and not of the whole country.
Haji Muhammad Adeel, Senior Vice President of the ANP, while talking to this correspondent said in principle the ANP was against the 17th Amendment but it would be better if the whole Charter of Democracy was implemented as a package. “We will not support the PML-N’s move of repealing only the 17th Amendment as we want to change the province’s name and also want provincial autonomy,” said Haji Adeel, adding:
“The PML-N wants to repeal the ban on becoming the prime minister for the third time from the Constitution. We are ready to repeal the provision but we also want provincial autonomy.”
He said amendments in the Constitution were not done on a daily basis and, therefore, a complete and full-fledged package must be introduced to completely implement the Charter of Democracy as amending the Constitution on daily basis had been the habit of dictators.
“If the PML-N is committed, then it must introduce the whole constitutional package and we will have to see what the PML-N will present,” said the senior vice president of the ANP. “The Pakistan People’s Party had introduced its package and it could have been accepted with slight changes but it was not taken seriously.”
He was of the view that the PML-N only wanted to please the people of the Punjab and its government as it did not supply flour to the residents of the NWFP while there was a severe shortage of flour in the province, hence it disappointed its own voters in the NWFP. He said that the PML-N wanted to apply the same formula in the constitutional package as well by getting those provisions repealed that did not favour it while there were problems of other parties as well, which must also be addressed while amending the Constitution.
The ANP senator said his party would have encouraged the PML-N if it had negotiated and introduced a package with the consent and approval of all the signatories to the Charter of Democracy.
It is pertinent to mention here that PML-N has announced to move a bill to repeal the 17th Amendment from the Constitution in the National Assembly in its session scheduled for January 12.
.. Who cares, who remembers , who knows about it 