Lahore, July 22, 2010: Members of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from major political parties met in Lahore to participate in a PILDAT Briefing Session on Impact of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the 7th NFC Award on the Federation-Provinces Relations.

The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and was addressed by Mr. Shahid Hamid; Senior Advocate High Court; Former Minister for Defence, Establishment & Law and Former Governor of Punjab, Senator S. M.Zafar, Constitutional Lawyer; Member Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms; Former Federal Minister of Law, Mr. Nohman Ishtiaq, Consultant and Mr. Sartaj Aziz, Vice Chancellor Beaconhouse National University; Former Federal Minister for Finance and Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director-PILDAT, while giving the background for organizing the briefing session said that the 18th amendment represents a historical consensus with far-reaching impact on the way relations between the Federation and the provinces are conducted. A greater awareness of this change and the resulting requirements of capacity enhancement and better governance need to be created at all levels of the society but especially among the provincial legislators, provincial government officials and the Provincial Assembly Staff. It is with this background that PILDAT planned to organize this briefing Sessions for the Members of the Provincial Assembly and the Assembly Staff.

Honourable Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Speaker Provincial Assembly of the Punjab while addressing the Briefing Session remarked that the 18th Constitutional amendment has proved to be a milestone in strengthening the parliamentary system in Pakistan as all the political parties unanimously opted to pass the amendment. He was also of the view that after the abolition of the Concurrent List the provincial legislatures have opportunity of more effective legislation.

The MPAs who participated in the Briefing Session included Mr. Iftikhar Ali Khitran, PP-266 (PPPP), Ms. Faiza Malik, W-343 (PPP), Ch. Muhammad Awais Aslam Midhana, PP-31 (PPPP), Malik Muhammad Javed Iqbal Awan, PP-39 (PML-N), Ms. Rehana Hadees, W-327 (PML-N), Mr. Amir Hayat Hiraj, PP-216 (PML), Haji Ghulam Jaffar Sargana, PP-212 (PML), Malik Adil Hussain Utra, PP-50 (PML-N), Ms. Shameela Aslam, W-308 (PML-N), Mrs. Naseem Nasir Khawaja, W-314 (PML-N), Ms. Deeba Mirza, W-318 (PML-N), Dr. Zamurad Yasmin Rana, W-317 (PML-N), Ms. Maiza Hameed, W-310 (PML-N), Mr. Mehr Sultan Sikandar Bharwana, PP-76 (PML), Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, PP-137 (PML-N), Mr. Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari, PP-245 (PML), Dr. Khalid Imtiaz Khan Baluch, PP-69 (PML-N), Dr. Aman Buttar, W-339 (PPPP).