‘Proposed 28th amendment should be aimed at resolving lingering issues of masses’

KARACHI: The proposed 28th Constitutional amendment should be aimed at resolving the lingering issues of the masses instead of serving the vested interests of the elite class, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here on Thursday.

He said all previous amendments only benefited the elite class ignoring the common man. He said the 18th amendment failed to benefit the provinces and also did not strengthen the local bodies. He said the demand for the new provinces on administrative grounds have now become a popular political demand and the 28th amendment should focus on this demand.

He said Pakistan has two megacities, Karachi and Lahore, but the Pakistani constitution has no any provision for the megacities. He demanded that in the coming amendment the local government system should be modified to include a slot for the megacity government local system.

Altaf Shakoor said new administrative units, be them with the label of new provinces or any other name, are now overdue and this lingering issue should be resolved in the coming amendment.

The PDP chairman said the new amendment should also focus on expanding the tax base, especially the agriculture tax. He said if agriculture tax is collected properly our economy could be augmented to some extent. He said the elite class people sitting in parliament are not in the favour of taxes on feudal lords and capitalists, and the new amendment should remove these hurdles.

Altaf Shakoor said the issues of the poor people should be resolved on priority as more than half of the population of Pakistan is living below the poverty line. He said without adopting the proportionate electoral system the real representatives of the poor people can’t reach the parliament. He said we should work hard so that the parliament is saved from being a drawing room of the elite class, and to make it a place where the issues of the poor people are discussed and resolved.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026