Nisar opposes composition of NA commission on provinces

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has expressed reservations over the formation of a commission by the National Assembly speaker for the creation of two provinces in Punjab without consultation with the opposition.
Talking to a group of reporters at the Punjab House on Friday, Nisar demanded that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) should be given fifty percent representation in the commission and put forward six demands, including new provinces in Hazara and FATA. Nisar said the ruling party was not interested in creation of new provinces but was only using it as an election stunt to give some hope to the sinking PPP boat.
He said the formation of the commission by the NA speaker at the asking of the government would not be helpful and instead make the process more difficult. He termed it a negative political move by the PPP aimed at hoodwinking the people of South Punjab and Bahawalpur. Nisar regretted that the NA speaker had once again become part of the government’s game and double standards.
The leader of the opposition said only last week they received a verbal message seeking two names from the opposition for the commission. They were in the process of bringing the issue in the party and to get details of terms of reference from the Assembly Secretariat when the NA speaker, while sitting in the United States, announced the formation of the commission. Nisar pointed out that if the commission was to carve out two provinces from Punjab only, then it was an attempt to turn the majority party in the province into minority.
He also questioned the inclusion of Farooq Sattar, Haji Adeel and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in the commission if the matter related to Punjab only.
He questioned if the commission was to report on new provinces in the country, why was there no mentioning of FATA and Hazara provinces in the relevant notification. He said the PML-N was in favor of Bahawalpur and South Punjab provinces, but at the same time the demand for Hazara and FATA provinces should also be given due consideration. Nisar pointed out that the people of Hazara had given their life for a new province. To a question, he said the PML-N was not in favor of the division of Sindh and was well aware of the conspiracy in this connection.