The constitutional bill to carve out the “Bahawalpur-South Punjab” province in Punjab will be tabled in the National Assembly today (Monday) for debate and subsequent passage. The Parliamentary Commission on Creation of New Provinces on Saturday gave final touches to the bill, which has already attracted controversy. Several politicians have been questioning the scope of the commission and others have alleged that the “partisan commission” had violated its mandate granted by the presidential reference and the unanimous resolutions passed by Punjab and National Assemblies. Per the recommendations, the name of new province would be “Bahawalpur-South Punjab”, having 124 and 59 seats for provincial and National Assembly, respectively. The recommendation draft, signed by members, has been sent to Ministry of Law and would be tabled in the National Assembly through a bill – the 24th Amendment Bill 2012 – today.
