The stage is all set for the formation of new provinces as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which was the only stumbling block in the process, on Friday decided it would support the creation of more federating units purely on administrative basis, while the PML-Q took the initiative by submitting a resolution in the Punjab Assembly Secretariat proposing the formation of a Saraiki province.
The resolution, submitted by PML-Q parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, said Southern Punjab should be made a separate province on administrative grounds so that the administrative and economic affairs of the province could be run in a better way. Meanwhile, the PML-N’s consent to new provinces came in the backdrop of the opposition’s plan to hold a meeting in the National Assembly on August 11 to present the resolution of the division of Punjab.
The president and the prime minister had also hinted at the formation of a Saraiki province by August 14. Sources close to the Sharifs told Pakistan Today that the party had agreed to the formation of new provinces, including a Saraiki province, in the light of the recommendations prepared by a 15-member committee formed by the PML-N chief on July 27. The committee, headed by Senator Raja Zafarul Haq comprised Javed Hashmi, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Zulfiqar Khosa, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Mamnoon Hussain, Yaqoob Khan Nasir, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Salahuddin Tirimzi, Tehmina Daultana, Arshad Khan Leghari and Ch Jaffar Iqbal.
Seal: The sources said that Nawaz would seal the deal with the formal approval in the impending meeting scheduled on Monday. A member said the committee had suggested drafting a comprehensive package to form new provinces on administrative grounds ruling out any ethnic and racial colours to prevent any differences. He said recommendations for the formation of new provinces had been laid down keeping in view the interest of the people and the federation as well as on the basis of Nawaz’s speech after his election as the PML-N president on July 27.
PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid said the PML-N always supported the demand of new provinces as the constitution allowed it. The party’s Deputy Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said setting up of new provinces was permissible under the constitution. However, he said, the party was of the view that new federating units should be for the convenience of the administration and not based on ethnicity. PML-N MNAs Hamza Sharif and Saad Rafiq said their party was not against the formation of new provinces on administrative grounds but would oppose any move based on ethnic or linguistic basis. Talking to Pakistan Today in Islamabad, chairman of the PML-N committee, Raja Zafarul Haq, confirmed that the committee had compiled its recommendations which would be submitted to the party president on Monday.
“Though it’s inappropriate to comment on the recommendations prior to the party president’s approval, we think the new provinces should be made purely on administrative basis. Moreover, in order to avoid political wrangling, a permanent body should be formed which could decide the new provinces issue under a national formula on the lines of Indian permanent commission which takes decisions about new provinces,” he added. Unveiling the recommendations made by the committee, a source said the committee had proposed that creation of new provinces was the need of the hour. “The committee also said big provincial units had inherited corruption and bad governance while the smaller administrative units would be viable and would be helpful in resource saving and would help redress the grievances of the people,” the source said.
The source said the PML-N committee’s report analysed the government’s claims of a Saraiki province and a Hazara province and said the government had done no homework. “No resource generation plan has been evolved and it is a proven fact that the government has done it for short-term political gains,” he said. The source said that there was a proposal to convert every division of Punjab into a province. However, the committee dropped the proposal as it was not viable. The source said this move would upset and frustrate the plan of the ruling PPP which had decided to support the idea of a Saraiki province just to divide Punjab and undermine PML-N’s political support.
“Now this package of around 11 or 12 new provinces would not only hit the PPP hard as we have also called for the division of Sindh but it would also win popular support for the PML-N. Now the people of Hazara and Bahawalpur would also support it,” the source said. “Under these recommendations, Bahawalpur province could be restored while a province comprising Multan and DG Khan divisions should be formed. One province each should be made in the Potohar and central Punjab regions. Likewise in Sindh, urban and rural areas should be divided into two provinces while three provinces should be made in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which could be Hazara, FATA and KP, besides two provinces in Balochistan dividing the Baloch and the Pakhtun areas,” another PML-N source said.
The source said it was a wise move on the part of the PML-N and it would reverse all the negative propaganda made against the party by the ruling PPP in the past two year.
