Prime
Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Friday said if the provinces would have
been given autonomy, then East Pakistan had not separated. Replying to
questions in his monthly programme “PM Online” broadcast live on
Pakistan Television and Aaj TV, the Prime Minister said, “The reason of
separation of East Pakistan 40 years ago was that autonomy was not
given to the provinces.” The Prime Minister said Provincial Autonomy
Day should be celebrated by all and no party should feel uneasy on
issue of distribution of ministries from the federal government to the
provincial governments.He said Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave a
unanimous Constitution of 1973, according to which concurrent list
should have been abolished in 10 years, giving autonomy and rights to
the provinces and the present government fulfilled this promise of
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The Prime Minister lauded the work
of Implementation Commission on constitutional reforms, headed by Raza
Rabbani and the contribution of elected representatives of all the
political parties for building consensus on the constitutional
amendments that helped in ensuring provincial autonomy. APP
