Annexure – A The 18th Constitutional Amendment –Some Important Aspects The 18th Constitutional Amendment made substantial changes to the Constitution of Pakistan. These range from renaming the North West Frontier Province as ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ to redefining the division of powers between the President and the Prime Minister. One of the more important changes is the elimination of the ‘Concurrent List’ of the Constitution. The list enumerated joint legislative functions of the federal and provincial governments. The changes restored provincial autonomy to levels originally intended in the 1956 and 1973 Constitutions, in so doing removing a persistent aggravation in relations. It has narrowed the opportunity for arbitrary federal intervention in provincial affairs and therefore, may have gone some distance in relieving provincial discontent over federal policies. Intergovernmental balance of powers: Elimination of the Concurrent List effectively gave the provinces and federal territories powers to legislate laws governing arbitration and contracts; explosives and firearms; labor; educational curricula, planning and policy (except for higher education); environmental pollution; bankruptcy; drugs and medicines; infectious diseases; population and social welfare; shipping; and 25 other diverse policies and functions. Prior to this step, functions such as electricity management; major ports; all regulatory authorities established under the federal law; national planning and national economic coordination; supervision and management of public debt; censuses; standards in institutions for higher education and research; and inter-provincial coordination had been transferred to Part II of the Federal Legislative List, making them governable not by any government but by the ‘federation’ through the Council of Common Interest (CCI). The 18th Amendment also specified a threshold (equal to the share specified in the Seventh NFC Award) for the provinces’ share in the divisible pool of federally collected revenue. Fiscal implications and financing arrangements of the 18th Amendment: Despite the large number of functions devolved to provincial governments, the fiscal implication of the 18th Amendment is likely to be small. In fiscal 2011, the federal government allocated Rs. 45
Annexure – A The 18th Constitutional Amendment –Some Important Aspects The 18th Constitutional Amendment made substantial changes to the Constitution of Pakistan. These range from renaming the North West Frontier Province as ‘Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ to redefining the division of powers between the President and the Prime Minister. One of the more important changes is the elimination of the ‘Concurrent List’ of the Constitution. The list enumerated joint legislative functions of the federal and provincial governments. The changes restored provincial autonomy to levels originally intended in the 1956 and 1973 Constitutions, in so doing removing a persistent aggravation in relations. It has narrowed the opportunity for arbitrary federal intervention in provincial affairs and therefore, may have gone some distance in relieving provincial discontent over federal policies. Intergovernmental balance of powers: Elimination of the Concurrent List effectively gave the provinces and federal territories powers to legislate laws governing arbitration and contracts; explosives and firearms; labor; educational curricula, planning and policy (except for higher education); environmental pollution; bankruptcy; drugs and medicines; infectious diseases; population and social welfare; shipping; and 25 other diverse policies and functions. Prior to this step, functions such as electricity management; major ports; all regulatory authorities established under the federal law; national planning and national economic coordination; supervision and management of public debt; censuses; standards in institutions for higher education and research; and inter-provincial coordination had been transferred to Part II of the Federal Legislative List, making them governable not by any government but by the ‘federation’ through the Council of Common Interest (CCI). The 18th Amendment also specified a threshold (equal to the share specified in the Seventh NFC Award) for the provinces’ share in the divisible pool of federally collected revenue. Fiscal implications and financing arrangements of the 18th Amendment: Despite the large number of functions devolved to provincial governments, the fiscal implication of the 18th Amendment is likely to be small. In fiscal 2011, the federal government allocated Rs. 45
862490NWP0Worl0ainability0Analysis.docx