Gilani says Bahawalpur will not be left out

No political force is opposing the creation of a new province, claims prime minister .

MULTAN:

All stakeholders, including Bahawalpur, will be consulted over creating new provinces, Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Speaking to the media after inaugurating the Qasim Bela link road to Aviation Chowk, the prime minister said that he had already announced at a public gathering in Jalalpur Pirwala that the Seraiki province would be part of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s manifesto.

The prime minister’s announcement at Jalalpur Pirwala stadium, more than 90 kilometres from Multan, was much appreciated and applauded by the audience. The creation of a Seraiki province is a long-standing demand of people of the area and the Seraiki language is widely spoken in southern Punjab. People in the area have often complained of a lack of development in their region compared to northern parts of the province.

Gilani, who holds a national assembly seat from Multan, said that no political force was opposing the creation of a new province in the region.

However, in the National Assembly session on Thursday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq said that his party will never allow the creation of more federating units along linguistic or ethnic lines. PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, however, said that the party was not opposed to the creation of new provinces in order to improve administrative efficiency.

On coalition politics, the prime minister said that talks with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) are under way and President Asif Ali Zardari will announce whatever is finalised.

“Political stability will ensure prosperity in the country. Our reconciliation policy will also set a precedent for next governments,” said Gilani

Speaking about US drone attacks in the tribal areas, the prime minister said the government has presented its view before the parliament. “The government is also in contact with friendly countries to muster support against the drone attacks,” he added.

Replying to a suggestion on shooting down the drones, Gilani said the issue should be resolved through talks.

On his recent visit to Afghanistan, the prime minister said that Pakistan will support the Afghan policy, formulated by the Afghan government for the interest of the country. However, he added that a final decision in this regard would be taken together by Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States.

Cricket diplomacy has helped improve relations between India and Pakistan, the PM said, adding that: “The secretary-level dialogue is moving forward successfully and we hope for a better outcome.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2011.