By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday that neither he nor his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, had received any approach from the federal government regarding a prospective 28th Constitutional Amendment, even as media reports swirled about the ruling coalition’s interest in pushing such a measure through parliament.
“President Zardari and I remain in contact with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, but the government has not contacted the PPP regarding any constitutional amendment,” Bhutto-Zardari told reporters at a news conference after chairing a meeting of the PPP’s parliamentary party at the Parliament House.
The denial came amid persistent speculation in Islamabad that the government is weighing further constitutional changes. Bhutto-Zardari reiterated that no discussions had taken place. “No talks have taken place yet on the 28th Amendment; but I do not know about tomorrow,” he said.
Bhutto-Zardari used the occasion to underscore the PPP’s pivotal leverage in the current hung parliament. Without the party’s support, he said, neither constitutional amendments nor the federal budget can pass. He pointed to the PPP’s central role in the 26th and 27th amendments, which he said not only safeguarded provincial rights but expanded them — including increasing Balochistan’s representation in the Senate. The party’s efforts, he added, had also secured representation for all provinces in both the Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court.
His remarks followed an appearance earlier in the week by State Minister for Law Barrister Aqeel Malik on the private television. Malik rejected what he described as a “false impression” that any 28th Amendment would roll back the landmark 18th Amendment, passed in 2010 under a PPP-led government that dramatically devolved power from the presidency to the provinces. “This impression being created that if the 28th Amendment is introduced, it is a rollback of the 18th Amendment — I believe an extremely false impression is being created,” Malik said. The minister added that no official work was currently underway on any constitutional amendment, though broader national issues had been discussed.
The PPP has long viewed the 18th Amendment as its signature achievement and has repeatedly vowed to resist any attempt to dilute its provisions. Bhutto-Zardari made clear on Thursday that the party stood with the government on constitutional amendments and national matters — provided they did not erode provincial rights.
On the economy, Bhutto-Zardari painted a sobering picture of deepening public hardship. Inflation, he said, was inflicting severe difficulties on citizens nationwide, and the PPP had been pressing the issue relentlessly at both the federal and provincial levels. He welcomed Prime Minister Sharif’s recent relief measures, noting that all provinces had agreed through consultation to support steps aimed at curbing inflation, including targeted relief for motorcycle users. The PPP itself, he added, had helped millions of farmers through the Benazir Kisan Card program.
Yet Bhutto-Zardari cautioned that economic difficulties appeared to be intensifying rather than easing. The upcoming federal budget, he warned, would be particularly challenging, and the government would have to craft relief-oriented decisions while keeping those hardships firmly in mind. Pakistan was already facing an acute economic crisis, he said, and further pain lay ahead — even if an eventual agreement eased tensions between Iran and the United States.
For the budget negotiations, Bhutto-Zardari announced the formation of a four-member PPP team — comprising former prime minister and MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, MNA Naveed Qamar, and senators Saleem Mandviwalla and Sherry Rehman — to present the party’s proposals to the government.
Bhutto-Zardari also addressed the party’s position on recent amendments to the National Accountability Bureau law. The PPP has historically sought the bureau’s outright abolition, he said, but had supported the latest changes because of the government’s political compulsions. Should the government fail to fulfill its commitments to the PPP, he warned, the party “can reconsider its decisions.”
On foreign policy and national security, Bhutto-Zardari struck a note of cross-party solidarity. During recent tensions with India, he said, he had spoken out on international media platforms in defense of Pakistan “as a patriot.” On the Iran-U.S. standoff, he said the PPP had given the federal government its full support. “As Pakistanis, we are united on such matters,” he added. No offer had been made to him personally regarding any role in Iran-U.S. negotiations, he noted, but he expressed hope that direct talks between Tehran and Washington would ultimately succeed.
Bhutto-Zardari observed that Prime Minister Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the army chief, were working to restore peace and defuse the Iran-U.S. tensions. “We want the situation to return to normal,” he said, “after which we will discuss the government’s performance and promises.” He added that Pakistan’s foreign policy was “moving in the right direction and was being shaped in the national interest.”
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