New provinces row: PML-N to hold key session in Murree today

Nawaz Sharif expected to brief party leaders on PPP’s response to PML-N’s proposals.

LAHORE:

Senior cadres of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) will hold a brainstorming session in the popular summer resort of Murree today (Monday) to chalk out the party’s line of action on the issue of new provinces, The Express Tribune learnt.

The party’s chief, Nawaz Sharif, is expected to share with the participants Pakistan Peoples Party’s response to a set of proposals put forward by the PML-N on the makeup of the national commission on new provinces, sources told The Express Tribune.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of opposition in the National Assembly, is said to have communicated the PML-N’s proposals to the PPP through backdoor channels. The ruling party’s response is expected in Monday’s session of the National Assembly, sources added.

The PML-N is calling for the formation of a new commission with a retired judge of the Supreme Court at the helm. The party also demands that members of the commission from the Punjab Assembly should be equal to those from parliament.

It was earlier reported that the PML-N is asking for the chairmanship of the commission.

The PML-N also believes that new provinces should not be carved in Punjab alone. The commission, it says, should be mandated to look into the possibility of forming Hazara and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) provinces.

Furthermore, the PML-N says a new commission should be constituted by the government and not the National Assembly speaker, and that it should have representation from all political parties.

According to sources, the PML-N is unwilling to budge on its demands. If the PPP responds negatively to its proposals, the PML-N would try to press the coalition government into creating a new commission. However, if the ruling party shows flexibility, the PML-N would suggest a retired SC judge for leading the new commission.

PML-N’s Secretary General Iqbal Zafar Jhagra confirmed to The Express Tribune the agenda of Monday’s meeting. He said the party had no issue with the creation of new provinces of South Punjab and Bahawalpur, but this should be done through a new national commission.

He added that a retired Supreme Court judge would lend credibility to a new commission on provinces.

Jhagra was skeptically hopeful that the PPP would concede his party’s demands as parliamentary elections are just around the corner.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2012.