The Punjab Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the commission formed by the National Assembly speaker for the creation of new provinces in Punjab, calling for the formation of a new national commission.
The provincial assembly’s Wednesday session turned out to be a battle zone for treasury and opposition members, with both using harsh words to do each other out.
All PA sessions since Monday have seen similar ruckus over the issue of formation of new provinces in Punjab. Amid the chaos, a resolution was moved by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah opposing the parliamentary commission formed by the federal government for carving new provinces out of Punjab. The resolution, which also called for the formation of a new commission, was passed immediately by assembly members.
As the resolution was passed, opposition members resorted to sloganeering against the decision. Several of them tore down copies of the resolution and hurled it at Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal.
“Today, the Punjab Assembly has rejected this ‘Zardari commission’ and demands that the NA speaker and the federal government immediately withdraw this commission,” Sanaullah told reporters after the session. “The Punjab Assembly demands that a new national commission be formed taking the provincial and national leadership into confidence,” he said, adding that the PPP women lawmakers were responsible for the ruckus during the session.
The Punjab Assembly also passed a resolution in favor of forming a Potohar province.
In Islamabad, Chairman of the Commission on New Provinces, Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the commission would submit its report within 30 days. Talking to media persons after a meeting of the commission, he said that it would listen to all stakeholders of the Southern Punjab province.
Answering a question, he said that the parliamentary commission had the jurisdiction to consider the creation of Southern Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces, however the Potohar Province was not within its purview.
He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had not responded to the request for participating in meetings of the Commission. Earlier on Tuesday, Farhatullah Babar had been elected the interim chairman of the parliamentary commission, however, the PML-N had boycotted the commission’s maiden meeting. The controversial 14-member parliamentary commission was formed by National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza on August 16 in pursuance of a message received from President Asif Ali Zardari and authorization by the NA on July 11.
Her announcement named 12 members only, drawn from two houses of parliament, and said the remaining two would be nominated by the Punjab Assembly speaker.
The inclusion of three PML-N members in the commission had surprised and confused the party, and a day after the announcement, the PML-N accused the speaker of unilaterally nominating their party’s legislators without consultation. Opposition leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar rejected the commission and called for raising his party’s representation to 50 percent, contending that since the proposed body was meant only for carving two provinces out of Punjab, the PML-N must have a greater say by virtue of being the biggest party in the provincial assembly. He had also questioned inclusion of the MQM’s Dr Farooq Sattar, ANP’s Haji Adeel and JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, saying their parties had no representation in Punjab.