Waqas 48 Posted December 11, 2009 ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Friday warmly felicitated the nation and the federal and all provincial governments on reaching a consensus on the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. The consensus on the 7th NFC Award was reached at a meeting held in Lahore on Friday chaired by the Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen and attended by the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan. “The consensus on the NFC Award is a giant step forward in re writing the equation between the federation and the federating units so as to strengthen the federation itself”, the President said in his message of felicitations. Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the President described the Award as a great victory for the democratic government and the people of Pakistan. The Award carries forward and strengthens the process of national reconciliation that will ultimately lead to the resolution of all outstanding issues in a spirit of trust and mutual accommodation, the President said. When the din and noise currently witnessed against the democratic government finally settles down, as it will, the historian will record that, undeterred by the onslaught against it, the government achieved in less than two years what could not be achieved in nearly two decades, the Spokesperson quoted the President as saying. The President said that seldom before a federal government had volunteered to cut down on the expenditure which along with increasing revenue made it possible to contribute more towards the pool for horizontal distribution among the provinces. It is a demonstration of the government’s commitment to follow the Constitution in letter and spirit. The fact that the federal government will share the expenditures of NWFP on war against terror and one percent will be contributed by the provinces lends truly national character to the ongoing war against militancy and will go a long way to take the fight to its logical end, President Zardari said. The new criteria in Award and the transfer of the sales tax to the provinces which will collect and spend it is a fulfillment of the promise made by the PPP in its manifesto, he said. If there is anything that can be termed as win win for every one it is the NFC Award, the President said. He said that the 7th NFC Award, the measures taken for the resolution of net hydel profits to meet the demand of NWFP and the steps taken under the recently announced Balochistan Empowerment Package will be remembered as some of the solid steps that saved and strengthened the federation at a time when it was threatened. The Chief Ministers of all the Provinces along with the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen and all those who worked hard to make it possible have demonstrated great patriotism and spirit of accommodation and deserve the gratitude of all of us, he said. “Let us carry forward this spirit in the service of the nation and the people”, the President said. The Prime Minister said that unanimity shown by all the stakeholders over the NFC Award reflects that political forces were capable of resolving the issues of national importance. He said that unanimously adoption of the mechanism for distribution of financial resources between the centre and provinces would go a long way in augmenting the voyage of progress and prosperity of the people living in every nook and corner of the country as well as ushering in a new era of socio economic development. The Prime Minister said that credit goes to the present government to resolve the long outstanding National Finance Commission Award issue amicably through extensive negotiations with all stakeholders and appreciated the positive role of the provinces for arriving at the acceptability of NFC Award. He said that economically strong and prosper provinces would help strengthen the federation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
