Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader and former Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Tuesday demanded that the federal government disclose all international agreements being made abroad, claiming that even the public found out about major petroleum and mineral deals through a tweet by the US President. PPP senior leader Raza Rabbani addressed a press conference and criticised the lack of transparency and exclusion of the Parliament from key foreign agreements, which he said directly affected Pakistan’s natural resources and provincial rights. 

Rabbani voiced concerns that the government is planning to reduce the provinces’ share in the upcoming National Finance Commission (NFC) Award from 57.5%, which, he stressed, would be a clear violation of the 18th Amendment of the Constitution. “More than 15 years have passed, and a new NFC Award has still not been introduced,” he lamented, calling the situation a deliberate constitutional breach. 

Referring to foreign agreements reportedly involving petroleum and mineral resources, Rabbani said these were first made known through a tweet by US President Donald Trump, not through any official channel in Pakistan. The PPP leader emphasised that 50% of such resources belong to the provinces, and their exclusion from such decisions is unjust and unconstitutional. “The rights of the provinces are being ignored in every overseas deal,” Rabbani said, adding that the Federation must stop centralised tax collection. 

He also called for an overhaul of the tax system, demanding that all tax collection responsibilities be handed over to the provinces, instead of the federal government controlling fiscal flows. Mian Raza Rabbani is a senior Pakistani politician and lawyer who served as the 7th Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan from March 2015 to March 2018. Rabbani has been affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) since 1968 and has served as senator six times from Sindh since 1993.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)