Provincial concerns: Governor says CM stands in the way of new provinces
Punjab Governor Latif Khosa told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the formation of new provinces was essential and the Punjab government was standing in the way of progress on this issue.
“We have never demanded to make new province on a linguistic basis. Language has never been the main problem. The challenge for making new provinces lies in boundaries,” he said. The governor said that the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PMLN) had prevented the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from even presenting a motion for new provinces in the Punjab Assembly. “The man standing in the way of new provinces is the Punjab chief minister,” he said.
“As far as the capital of the new province is concerned this could be either Dera Ghazi khan, Multan or Bahawalpur,” the governor said. The governor said that contention between whether or not Multan or Bahwalpur should be the capital of the new province could only be solved my making DG Khan the new capital.
The Bahawalpur call for a separate province can be resolved through negotiations at a later basis. Governor Khosa said that Bahawalpur had never been a province in the past and used to be a local rural area in the province of Multan.
“We accept that we do not have a majority in the Punjab Assembly and that a resolution for amending the boundaries of the province requires a two-third majority in the assembly. However, we have even not been allowed to present the move for the resolution,” the governor said. Khosa said that according to the Constitution, Article 239 allows changing the boundaries of the province and it is wrong to say that the Pakistani Constitution does not make any provisions for new provinces. “The Punjab government is scared that new provinces will mean that their power will be diminished. They are standing in the way of progress to protect their own selfish interests,” he said.
We have never raised the issue to cause conflict. “One cannot imagine the poverty and backwardness in the southern Punjab. Out of a total 17 universities in the region, 13 districts of southern Punjab have only two universities and these are woefully ill equipped to meet modern standards,” he said.
“I am not bound to follow the advice of Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on appointing university vice chancellors. Four months ago I made an appointment for the VC of Bahahaaudin Zakariyah University but the chief minister refuted my decision without even taking an interview for the post,” he said. “Article 14 empowers me to appoint any university vice chancellor of my choice under federal authority,” he added. The clash over the appointment of the vice chancellor in BZU has occurred because of the unflinching stance of the Punjab chief minister.
“More independent provinces will help solve these problems and areas that have been exploited will no longer be deprived,” he said. He said that the new province should comprise of all localities speaking Seraiki that share the same culture and values. “If the new provinces are not made soon, financial discrimination from the Punjab government will lead to dreadful consequences,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2011.
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I think Governer is rightly so, because the division of punjab is written on the wall,and CM should reconsider his policies about this important issue otherwise people of soutern punjab make this happen through upcoming election 2013.