Adnan Aamir
Quetta: Newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, had once expressed his desire to roll back clauses of 18th amendment related to natural Gas.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was elected as new Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan earlier today after office of PM was declared vacant after disqualification of Nawaz Sharif. Mr. Abbasi took oath and assumed office, on Tuesday evening.
Back in August 2013, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had claimed that government intended to review the natural gas related clauses inserted into constitution of Pakistan through 18th amendment.
He was referring to article 158 of the constitution which states:
Priority of requirements of natural gas: The Province in which a well-head of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from that well-head, subject to the commitments and obligations as on the commencing day.
He argued that this clause would prevent preferential supply of gas to industries in Punjab which is industrial base of the country. “The allocation of gas in the industrial sector in the Punjab shouldn’t be considered as the share of province,” He was quoted saying.
Soon after the remarks made by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, PPP and other opposition parties strongly reacted to the idea of rolling back parts of 18th amendment.
Senator Raza Rabbani, who had chaired the 18th amendment committee, had termed the desire of Mr. Abbasi as a proposition unacceptable to smaller provinces.
Couple of days after the severe reaction faced by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for his anti-18th amendment statement, He Out-rightly backtracked on his earlier statement and said that he was quoted out of context.
Now, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is the PM of Pakistan for a transition period of almost 45 days after which Shehbaz Sharif, Current Chief Minister Punjab, will be made new PM.
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