The Eighteenth Amendment and its Impact on Functionability of Provinces

Abstract

The issue of federalism has remained one of the thorniest issues in the history of Pakistan. The 1973 constitution based upon the consensus tried to resolve the issue by insertion of the lists of Federal, Concurrent and Residue as well as as provisions regulating fiscal federalism, realizing that denial of participation and ignoring cultural identities and the smaller provinces caused alienation and consequently separatist tendencies such as the separation of East Pakistan. Even afterwards the distribution of powers between the federation and the provinces had been a contentious issue. All well-wishers believed that finally 18^th amendment had buried the controversies. It was heralded as a real federal democracy with the abolition of concurrent list, giving the provinces access to their resources and their right to make policies for revenue generation. However, still questions are been raised about the capacity of the provinces to deliver. In this context this research article assesses impact of 18^th amendment on the function ability of provinces in terms of strengthening national integration and good governance. Moreover, the research examines exact nature and extent of the autonomy allowed to the provinces and its implementation. This research is conducted by using qualitative and case study methods with Interviews and questionnaires as data collecting tools. The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been selected as a case study. The research establishes that 18^th amendment is headway towards provincial autonomy enabling the provinces enough legal and financial autonomy with allocation of resources in, as well as capacity to expand the revenue base; and above. Conclusively the amendment imparts decentralization leading to true federalism and national integration