New provinces: Standing Committee on Law approves 20th Amendment bill
The bill will now be presented in the National Assembly for approval.
President Asif Ali Zardari has also summoned the session of the National Assembly on February 1.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had recently introduced a bill in the National Assembly calling for the creation of new provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and tabled a 20th Amendment in the Constitution for the abrogation of Article 239.
Article 239(4) of the Constitution says that the provincial government’s consent is needed to make new provinces.
The 20th Amendment would also provide legal cover to over 28 members of parliament and provincial assemblies who were elected after the passage of the 18th amendment in April 2010.
Sindh nationalists had earlier protested against the bill terming it a “conspiracy” of dividing Sindh and held protests across the province.
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