Pakhtoonkhwa and Pakistan
The name Pakhtoonkhwa is not necessarily anathema to Pakistan, but a subtle reminder of the PML(N) mindset was in evidence Wednesday when the partyÕs MPA from Mardan, Abdus Subhan, showed to the House that it may be so.
Najmuddin Khan, a PPP back-bencher, is an exceedingly vocal and entertaining fellow. He sends waves of amusement in the House every time he comes to his feet. When he rose up on Wednesday to present his Call-Attention notice, the members across the House greeted him with cheers.
I thank the Pakhtoohkhwa-wallahs to beat their desks, he observed. There was surely a veiled message in the remark in as much as he is one of the six MPAs who have filed a motion in the assembly for the change of NWFP's name.
Won't you thank the Pakistan-wallahs also?', came the question from Abdus Subhan. Najmuddin was not loath offering his thanks to the Pakistan-wallahs too.
As the treasury and the opposition members avoided clashing with each other in spite of a number of opportunities, the general feeling in the Press Gallery was that everybody was saving up for the big day on Thursday, when the stormy resolutions would be tabled.
Although the agenda for Thursdays business was being kept secret, the omens were in the air on Wednesday. Perhaps for the first time during the current assembly session, the ANPÕs one-man demolition squad, Farid Khan Toofan, referred to the province as Pakhtoonkhwa. He was responding to an adjournment motion tabled by Abdur Rahman Khan.
The ANP's Haji Mohammad Adeel, who once used to hold the entire House a hostage to his breath, but who has now gone on the quieter side due to his status as the deputy speaker, is one of the movers of the Pakhtoonkhwa resolutions.
On Wednesday he backed Aftab Ahmad Khan SherpaoÕs suggestion to admit the National Finance Commission report 1996 for a full-house debate, and while doing so he sped past the law minister from his own party, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, who was obviously trying to respond to the proposal in positive.
The NFC was announced by a presidential proclamation on February 12, the very month in which the elections took placeÓ, Sherpao said. ÒWe asked the government during the budget session to place this award in the House. All the signatories to the award were unelected people. Balochistan rejected it, Sindh rejected it, but here the chief minister said the award was acceptable, and that the province would get its share in the federal funds. We were of the opinion that it was detrimental to the interests of the province. Today the negative effects of the award are becoming visibleÓ.
Sherpao said since the award was valid for five years, it was expected to cause extensive damage to NWFPÕs economy. He suggested a House debate on the issue, arguing that perhaps the members would be able to come up with suggestions which the government could adopt.
Before the minister for law and parliamentary affairs could respond to SherpaoÕs proposal, Haji Adeel got up on a point of order. The minister, Bashir Bilour, tried to prevent Adeel from speaking, arguing that first he should be allowed to make his reply. But if you can stop Adeel, you can stop history.
Without listening to his minister, Adeel went on to support the proposal, and then went a step further to suggest at least two days for the debate Òin view of the importance of the issueÓ. At his heels followed another ANP MPA, Mian Muzaffar Shah. He also backed the proposal, adding that the issue deserved a thorough debate.
When Bashir Bilour finally made his reply, it sounded as if his decision to allow the debate had been dictated by the two ANP MPAs, although we know that it was not. Bilour even tried to be sarcastic towards Sherpao, reminding him of the PPPÕs failure to negotiate a new NFC award in 1996.
These ripples of a behind-the-scenes affinity between the PPP and ANP members may rise into a storm on Thursday when the Pakhtoonkhwa motions are tabled. Members of the Press Gallery expect a split within the ruling coalition, with the PML(N) members lining up to beat the resolutions.
Talk to any ANP worker or minister, and you will come back with the impression that it is Mian Nawaz Sharif, not Wali Khan who is the real Rahbar of the party. If PML(N) puts up a stiff resistance to the resolution, SharifÕs image may get a drubbing.
And the signs of resistance are already there. If there is no overnight change of hearts, the PML(N) is expected to make the best of what is being viewed by observers as a deliberate effort to break the oppositionÕs ranks. While the ANP and PPP movers of the resolution are calling for the name Pakhtoonkhwa, JUIÕs Akram Durrani and independent Pir Mohammad, both of the opposition benches, prefer the name Pakhtoonistan.
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