PML-N manifesto committee divided on 18th amendment

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) manifesto committee has divided on the 18th amendment, however, the majority of the members suggested to avoid further changes to the law, citing sources, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The PML-N manifesto committee was divided on making further changes to the 18th amendment promulgated in April 2010, curtailing the president’s power to dissolve the parliament unilaterally and granting self-governing and financial autonomy to the provinces.

Majority of PML-N leaders suggested to not make further changes to the 18th amendment until consulting other political parties to build consensus, sources told ARY News.

On the other hand, some PML-N leaders were backing to modify some sections of the law.

Additionally, the manifesto committee recommended to hold local government (LG) polls at the earliest after coming into power besides urging to pass further legislation to make the LG institutions financially and administratively autonomous.

The manifesto committee members also agreed on transferring some exclusive powers from deputy commissioners (DCs) and assistant commissioners (ACs) to the LG representatives.

Regarding the local bodies, the committee members also suggested to match the tenure of LG institutions with the parliament.

Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) has accelerated its campaign for the upcoming elections

Yesterday, Senior Vice President of PML-N Maryam Nawaz presided over the party meeting and expressed satisfaction over the performance of MSF and minority wing.

The meeting directed the minority wing and youth of the party to actively participate in the upcoming general elections.

Maryam Nawaz said that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif wants the youth to lead political activities in the country as they are the symbol of the development of Pakistan.

Earlier, PML-N formed a 35-member central parliamentary board, led by Senator Ishaq Dar, to award tickets to aspiring candidates for the general elections, scheduled to be held on Feb 8.

According to the party’s spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, the board was constituted after the approval of party supremo Nawaz Sharif and President Shehbaz Sharif.

The members include Khawaja Asif, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal, Hamza Shahbaz, Ameer Muqam, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Latif, Pervaiz Rasheed, Muhammad Safdar and Bashir Memon.