Splitting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: PML-Q promises support for Hazara province
Party leadership says all stakeholders will be taken on board.
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a coalition partner of the PPP-led government, has called for the bifurcation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to create a new Hazara province.
“We will soon meet the president and the prime minister to seek the formation of a commission to bring all stakeholders on board and to remove obstacles, if any,” PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujat Hussain told a delegation of his party members from K-P on Wednesday. Amir Muqam, President of the K-P chapter of PML-Q was heading the delegation.
He told The Express Tribune that the delegation reminded Shujaat Hussain and his cousin Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi their promise to the people of Hazara. He said that before joining the government, the PMLQ leadership had announced support for the creation of Hazara and Saraiki provinces.
Muqam, who was initially against splitting up K-P, said the new name of the province had created rifts based on linguistic identities.
The PML-Q believes that by supporting the renaming of the NWFP as K-P, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) suffered a serious political setback in Hazara division. “By supporting the movement for a Hazara province, it can cash in on the reduced support for PML-N,” he added.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Shujaat said the PML-Q and PPP have agreed to make Hazara a
new province and for this purpose, the Awami National Party will also be taken on board.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2011.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a coalition partner of the PPP-led government, has called for the bifurcation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to create a new Hazara province.
“We will soon meet the president and the prime minister to seek the formation of a commission to bring all stakeholders on board and to remove obstacles, if any,” PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujat Hussain told a delegation of his party members from K-P on Wednesday. Amir Muqam, President of the K-P chapter of PML-Q was heading the delegation.
He told The Express Tribune that the delegation reminded Shujaat Hussain and his cousin Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi their promise to the people of Hazara. He said that before joining the government, the PMLQ leadership had announced support for the creation of Hazara and Saraiki provinces.
Muqam, who was initially against splitting up K-P, said the new name of the province had created rifts based on linguistic identities.
The PML-Q believes that by supporting the renaming of the NWFP as K-P, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) suffered a serious political setback in Hazara division. “By supporting the movement for a Hazara province, it can cash in on the reduced support for PML-N,” he added.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Shujaat said the PML-Q and PPP have agreed to make Hazara a
new province and for this purpose, the Awami National Party will also be taken on board.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2011.