- Consensus on fifth province, but realpolitik a barrier
An Arabic proverb states, ‘When man and woman are agreed, what can the Qazi do’, other than bless the union. The creation of the country’s fifth province carved out of an arguably unwieldy Punjab, was tantalisingly dangled by different governments over decades, but never translated into reality, despite its administrative advantages and emotional appeal among the poverty-stricken Seraiki-speaking backwaters. The merger of FATA with Khyber-Paktunkhwa was likewise endlessly debated, but realised only in May 2018, with much ‘spoiler’ opposition. Now the fifth province, once considered an anathema, is also an idea whose time has come, as all major parties support its formation, with some calling for revival of Bahawalpur state/province also, perhaps more as a matter of political ‘point scoring’ and pressure.
In Thursday’s National Assembly session, the PML-N leader of the opposition and PPP chairman both gave a green light to the proposal, kicking the ball with almost embarrassing alacrity back in the ruling PTI’s court. The latter had cleverly promised the new administrative setup when it formed an election platform with eight defecting PML-N legislators of the South Punjab Province Front, whose one point agenda was establishment of the new province. Now, as the metaphorical ‘pound of flesh’ or out of real conviction as in the case of the FATA-KP merger which he fast-tracked, PM Imran Khan is in a position to achieve this chimerical goal, as the two-thirds majority needed for the necessary constitutional amendment is available, on paper at least.
If the Rubicon is successfully crossed, it would count as a major PTI achievement and of political will. The callously neglected ordinary people of the eleven districts comprising the new province can benefit much from focused federal funding and ‘doorstep’ access to administrative machinery, thereby accelerating desperately needed social and developmental uplift. The three smaller province’s perpetual grouse about Punjab’s political ‘hegemony’ will hopefully be dispelled. The impediments to the fifth province might be PTI’s fear of losing its parliamentary strength and possible opening of a provincial Pandora’s Box: Karachi -Hyderabad in Sindh, Hazara in KP, Baloch-Pashtun regions in Balochistan, not to forget Gilgit-Baltistan. The lure of winning a few turncoats was such that it blinded the PTI to all these concerns.