While addressing a gathering of PPP workers in Bahawalpur, Gilani said that the party had strengthened state institutions including the parliament, the judiciary, media the civil society. He said the party had made great efforts for the progress of the country and that they had made it a symbol of the Federation.
Gilani said ministries had been devolved to the provinces more resources had been made available to them. He said that the government under the PPP had restored the constitution to its original form shaped by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The Prime Minister said that the PPP-led government had taken many steps to benefit the womenfolk of the country, and that the government respects the sentiments and the demands that the people present from time to time.
“We have always welcomed genuine demands of the people and tried to implement them as best as we could do.”
Talking about the rising unemployment rate, the Prime Minister said that the government had had taken many steps to create job opportunities and raise power generation capacity in the country.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and Federal Minister for Professional and Technical Training Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada were also present on the occasion.
PPI adds
President constitutes committee for the formation of new provinces
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says President Asif Ali Zardari constituted a Committee for the formation of new provinces. Meanwhile, the government is making all efforts for the development of Southern Punjab, he said. Gilani said the resources of Southern Punjab will be utilised for its development.
To another question, Gilani said PPP and Sindh Cabinet had given authority to President Zardari to negotiate with political parties for maintaining law & order in Karachi. He hoped situation in Karachi will return to normalcy soon.
He said Energy Conferences are being convened to overcome load shedding in the country. The government has taken several steps to address this important issue, he added.
COMMENTS (31)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
pakistan has so many problems bigest one is right now food prices are sky rocketing and unemployment is the reason for all crimes in big cities what these fuedal knows they are living in palaces like mughal kings and engraiz vicroys shame on these peoples.
@Munsif Ali: If anyone of you wants to see a real Pakistan then come to Karachi and take a bus ride from the city center. Every time you travel to and fro you meet people speaking Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtu, Saraiki, Urdu etc in the same bus. However, I challenge to all my fellow Pakistani to show me something similar in any other part of our country.
This is a pure example of "Multi-Ethnicity", however, if you go to other cities, lets say Lahore, you find people talking to each other in Punjabi only and it is surprising for everyone to hear someone talking in Sindhi, Baluchi or in pure Urdu accent in the same bus. Same applies to other cities of Sindh like Sukker, Larkana and Baluchistan cities Quetta, Khusdaar and KP also.
and by the way, Karachi's oldest inhabitants are Balochis not Sindhis. The city became heart of Sindh after it was inhabited by Muslim immigrants and now it is not just a heart of Sindh but a Heart of Pakistan. Nearly 70% of the income is generated from Karachi only. People in Karachi pay more Tax than any other citizen. Other provinces including rural Sindh enjoys much of Govt. subsidiaries while I have not heard any subsidiary granted to us.
But despite these facts, everyone in the city consider Pakistan's problem as their own. And yet entire nation disregard the values of city's inhabitants.
The point I am trying to make; There are many people or groups of people claim their right on the city but unfortunately none of them owns it at all. If you claim the city then you must own it as well.
We know all political parties including PPP are corrupt, but its the need of the time to make new provinces, dont make South Punjab only ethnic issue, Come and see what is the condition of this area, no education, no health, no infrastructure, no development even after 63 years ppl dont have pure water to drink,but in case of karachi and hazara dy dont have such issues,they only have ethnic issue, so plz dont relate South Punjab with other provinces issues, Sariki ppl are very loving and patriotic, we love pakistan, we are not in the favor of war,target killings,road blocks but what u ppl are giving to us?what pakistan giving to us?only poverty ?
faraz
In actual fact, Lahore city got 60% of the provincial budget for Punjab last year and has recieved 40% of this year's money spent thus far. You can be sure that by the end of the year Lahore will be getting more than 60% of Punjab's budget. In the last year the PML-N were in power in 1999-2000 Lahore got an unbelievable 85% of the annual budget, We have a problem for sure and I commend you for recognizing that. The question, however, is how to fix it. Dividing an ancient land by inventing a fake linguistic identity is not the solution. The solution is to devolve power to the divisions and to move the capital of Punjab from Lahore to a more central location, maybe Jhang.
A very good step.........Sind/Punjab should be divided into three provinces and Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa into two
In my opinion the following is a list of possible provinces
KPK (Split into two) Punjab(Split into 4 provinces on administrative grounds) Sindh (split into 3) Baluchistan (split into 6) AJK GB FATA PATA
Munsif I
Ranjeet Singh conquered Kashmir and other lands to but we don't consider them a part of Punjab. The Siraiki movement is barely a generation old and its roots lie in economic deprivation not in linguistics or ethnicity. Khawaja Ghulam Farid the great poet from Southern Punjab calls himself a son of Punjab. Who are you to say he was not a Punjabi? A 'Siraiki' in Bhakkhar is no different to a Punjabi in Khushab. These are hard facts that cannot be swept under the carpet. Economic rights for Southern Punjab yes, but a disintegration of our ancient motherland, no.
@Rabiya: Our identity is Pakistani NOT Muhajir or Phataan or Punjabi!
Anybody who opposes division of Punjab must visit Southern Punjab; it has been kept poor at the expense of upper Punjab. Lahore alone got 40 percent of provincial developmental budget last year. Isn’t this single statistic enough to justify the division of the province?
Prior to 1955, Pakistan was composed of three Governor's provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner's province (Baluchistan Province), the Baluchistan States Union, several other princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Federal Capital Territory (around Karachi) and the tribal areas. Later the concept of one unit came and all these states were abolished and now after 55 years there is again concept of making more provinces. I fully support this idea, if and only if, it is applied to entire Pakistan not alone Punjab.
The federal government cannot divide a federating unit in Pakistan without its agreement. If the PPP tries to force a division of Punjab they will not only be on shaky ground legally they will unleash highly destructive forces in Pakistan. As if we don't have enough of those already.
I think the problem is that PPP takes votes in Punjab for granted; in order to get few extra seats in south Punjab they are willing to break a historic landscape. It will be interesting to see views of PPP when it comes to division of Sindh and making of more provinces. People should have no problem with more provinces if those provinces are to me created all over Pakistan. Just the single-handed anti-Punjabi agenda of PPP won't be accepted by people. For almost 4-years this government has given nothing to people of Pakistan, and now they want to create chaos and violence in only somewhat peaceful province of Pakistan. If south Punjab is poor and PPP wants it to separate from rest of Punjab, in that case Sindh is every more poor compared to Karachi, why not separate that first. It will be easier to make a new province in Sindh by separating it from Karachi since PPP has the majority in Sindh.
@Realist.:
Punjabis don't have to show it, they exercise it whenever there has been an influx of people from other countries across the border. That's realism, isn't it?
@Realist.:
Be realist part brother.Sindh case is different from Punjab.In 1817 AD,Siraki area was conquered by Raja Ranjeet Singh and before it was NEVER part of Punjab.While Karachi and Hyderabad are centers of Sindh and they belong to Sindh.Sindh can welcome any immigrant from any other province or Indian Muslims but no one should have right to conspire against Sindh and its divison,that's NEVER acceptable to any Sindhi.NEVER!!
@Rabiya:
With due respect,if you people are "Mohajirs" even after 60 years and donot try to assimilate with SIndhis and feel like Pakistani then I am sorry,your place is in Camps not in Karachi.Karachi is heart of Sindh and Sindh welcomed Mohajirs for their well being,not to come and take lion share and abuse the native people.Stop this mohajrism.Be Pakistani!
@Rabiya:
Oh really!? Wow! First you got a country and now you want a province, so that you can have identity! That's a brilliant idea for an Ostrich. Open your eyes and come out of this self-imposed identity crisis.
The time of maximum stability and progress in Pakistan was during the period 1958-1969 when there was a one unit presidential system. Parliamentary democracy since adopted has gravely damaged Pakistan and is the root cause of corruption and chaos. Adding a few more provinces will make no real difference at all, rather would prove to be 'more of the same'. The cry of the day is to change the system for better. Let Pakistan switch over to a one unit Presidential system with district govts, a potent senate (instead of the existing several useless drag Assemblies which are nothing but nuisances and a burden on the exchequer). A powerful Accountability institution which so far has been missing can do the trick. Insha Allah we will find the path to progress and stability in this system. Constitution should be duly amended for the purpose or if needed a new constitution be drafted keeping in view the ground realities of the time.
Good decision! With this we would know what our requirement is, instead of guessing and quarrelling! Also Karachi, a mega city's requirement should also be ascertained.
They don't care about Problems of People. this is all Political scoring. mr Gillani Will you please tell us what have you done for people in almost 4 years of your government ? other than constitutional Amendments ?? You couldn't even present a fine Monetary Policy What else are you talking about ? Divide people on ethnic basis ? We're doomed!!
Keep On Playing Racist Politics!! I being a Punjabi REJECT the division of Punjab Under PPP!! Divide All other Provinces! Why Only Punjab ? Because Punjabis don't go violent like sindhis when someone speaks about division ? Punjabis have Never shown racism , Please dont make them feel this way!!
is this an urgent national priority?
Knowing the dynamics of federalist politics in Pakistan, as successive constitutional arrangements were put in place to deal with ethnic pluralism.The chequered history of centre-province relations in political, administrative and financial fields of public policy, and recent initiatives in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan should be kept in mind.The 18th Amendment should also be kept in mind which was a landmark on the route to maturation of federalism in the country, as well as its political, economic and judicial fallout.
Some observations point to the historical, legal, institutional and moral sources of legitimacy for the structural and operational dynamics of federalism in Pakistan, as opposed to the inherently centralizing tendency immersed in the nation-building agenda. Federalism in Pakistan has a history of a forward movement under civilian rule (1973-77, 1988-99 and 2008--) and a retrogressive march under a military-led government (1958- 71, 1977-88 and 1999-2008). The former tends to be populist and consensus-based. The latter looks at federalism as a recipe for dilution of state authority. However, federal governments under both civilian and military set-ups showed a tendency to control the purse and policy at the cost of provinces. Federalism as a symbol of shared sovereignty remains somewhat elusive, even as Pakistan has gradually moved towards relative liberalization of the principles of coordination and cooperation among and between provinces and the Center.
Stop wasting money on these commitees, proviences, bureaucracies etc....... Provide Safety and Security to the people first, than think about Law & Order, Electricity, Education, Healthcare and subsidised Food !!! When you have managed to tick all the Boxes, than consider all the Flamboyance to your hearts content for the Nation !!!!
I hope that PPP is genuinely serious about this decision and implements it across the board, not only punjab but sindh must also be divided, karachi to hyderabad region should be made a different province too, its the right of all mohajirs to have a province for themselves so we can get an identity.
Punjab is a passage where everybody from all backgrounds come and get absorbed into. There is no ethnic tension in Punjab. Punjab literally means land of the five rivers (aab means water in Persian). It is not an ethnic name of a tribe or anything like that.
Everyone living in Punjab becomes a Punjabi. A good example is Nawaz Sahrif who is of Kashmir origin.
Why do we want to destroy a culture so beautiful?
"While addressing a gathering of PPP workers in Bahawalpur, Gilani said that the party had strengthened state institutions including the parliament, the judiciary, media the civil society."
He considers the media and civil society as state institutions?
A corrupt PM whose son is implicated in the Hajj scandal, a PM who does not follow Supreme Court orders, a PM who has delivered negative real growth in Pakistan , destroyed Karachi, this PM who alledgedly got a VAT refund of 250k at Heathrow airport, now this PM has nothing left to play but the ethnic card...
And a President who has alledgedly now bought the most expensive aprtment in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OneHydePark), a president who raised his hand to say Surrey Palace was his, who opened up to USD 70mio in Swiss bank accounts, who recently did an underhand deal to buy 1.5 square km in Islamabad in the name of his son, this President too has nothing left but to playthe ethnic card...
PPP wants to make Pakistan into Rawanda or Burundi -- but we will not let them.
Pakistan was made on the basis of these 4 provinces electing to become Pakistan. Wali Khan’s bid to make the then NWFP part of India was rejected.
But ANP’s ethnic politics , Zardari’s Sind card, Gilani’s Saraki Subha (although Gilani prefers to lives in Lahore), Altaf’s complex ridden politics about Mahajirs, etc. are now destroying Pakistan - but we will not let them ruin Pakistan.
Guess what? The most corrupt and unethical politicians are playing the ethnic card… You know what they say: ‘nationalism is the last refuge for a scoundrel’.
I think the country needs more provinces purely for administrative reasons. Existing units are too large and are hindering the process of development of areas like upper Sindh, South & Western Punjab, Hazara and South Baluchistan. Sukkur, Multan, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Abbotabad and Gawadar should be new provincial headquarters. Once done, these cities will develop fast with their own assemblies, high courts, govt. offices and universities.
Likewise, there is dire need for empowering mega cities with their own city governments for managing their own affairs i.e. infrastructure, maintenance, policing etc. etc. Vested interests including reactionary political and nationalist elements must understand that they can't maintain status quo for long. Sooner we do reforms, the better.
Will the committee formed for the creation of new provinces will also consider to form a new Province of Karachi?