Bilawal accuses Imran of 'undermining' NCOC decisions.

KARACHI -- Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday blamed Prime Minister Imran Khan for constantly 'undermining' the consensus decisions made by the National Coordination and Operation Centre (NCOC) and other forums to adopt uniform policies to face the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Addressing a press conference at the CM House along with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, he accused the federal government of putting the country in a difficult situation. He claimed that measures and arrangements being made to contain Covid-19 did not cope with the pace of its spread.

Reacting strongly to PM Khan's statements about the 18th Amendment in the Constitution and the National Finance Commission (NFC) during his recent visit to Sindh, the PPP chairman claimed that the views of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government on the matter were against the spirit of the 1973 Constitution which called for more powers for provinces under a true democratic parliamentary system.

PPP chairman says Sindh has been 'robbed' of Rs229bn

Mr Bhutto-Zardari rejected the prime minister's allegations that the Sindh chief minister had agreed to all policies of the federal government in the fight against Covid-19 at all relevant national forums but later issued statements showing that there was a tussle between the province and the Centre.

'I think our PM has been unable to even focus on the NCOC and its decisions,' he said. 'I am very well aware of proceedings and details of every single NCOC meeting. I am briefed in detail after every meeting and I know how Sindh at that forum raises its points and highlights issues. But unfortunately even when a consensus is developed at the NCOC, he [PM] undermines them through judiciary, administration and media,' he added.

He accused the 'PM select' of 'robbing' Sindh of Rs229 billion which could affect the provincial government's efforts in the fight against coronavirus which had hit hard the country's financial capital, Karachi.

Answering a question, the PPP chairman ruled out the possibility of approaching the Supreme Court in what he called the first phase of his 'fight for the rights of provinces' and said he would prefer to channelise all political forums to fix the issue.

'In a democracy, we must fix things through parliament and political forums and the same strategy we adopt to address the issue of provincial rights,' he said. 'But it's true that when unconstitutional moves are...