Parliamentary commission to present final report in National Assembly on Tuesday.
The parliamentary commission on new provinces evolved consensus on Saturday when it proposed “Bahawalpur South Punjab” as the name of the province to be carved out of Punjab.
The commission also approved its draft report, which is likely to be presented in the National Assembly on Tuesday. “We will have yet another meeting on Monday and the report will be submitted later,” Senator Farhatullah Babar, chairman of the commission, told The Express Tribune. “The nation will soon hear the good news,” he said.
The commission, when constituted, was given the task to carve out two new provinces in Punjab as per a resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly, which demanded the restoration of Bahawalpur’s status as a province and the creation of a new unit in southern Punjab. However, the commission has focused solely on one new unit.
Draft of report
According to the draft report of the commission, four different models have been proposed for the new province. The models tackle issues such as the distribution of economic, financial and administrative resources, demarcation [of boundaries], seat allocation in assemblies, and minority and constitutional amendments.
According to reports, the new province will have a share of 59 seats in the National Assembly while the provincial assembly will have 124 members. According to details, the commission has recom mended 47 general seats and 12 special seats for women and minorities. Similarly, out of the 124 seats in its provincial assembly, 101 seats have been allocated for general members and 23 special seats for women and minorities.
However, according to the draft, the election commission will have the final say on seat distribution.
The commission, which is due to conclude its meetings on Monday, will give the go-ahead to its preferred model before presenting it before the National Assembly speaker. The treasury bench will then introduce this bill in the National Assembly, after which it will be referred to the concerned standing committee for consideration.
A consensus has also evolved for Bahawalpur as the capital of the new province, whereas the provincial assembly will be situated in Multan.
PML-N strategy
According to a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member, the party has not yet formulated a strategy on the bill.
However, Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will point out lacunas in the proposed bill. According to sources, the party would raise objections against the commission’s proposals. The party will urge the commission to comply with the Punjab Assembly resolution of carving out two provinces instead one province, amongst other objections.
Meanwhile, PML-N leader Khwaja Asif told Express News that unless members of Punjab Assembly were involved in the decision or the matter is initiated from Punjab Assembly, any action in this regard by the centre is contrary to the Constitution.
“The Punjab Assembly has already passed a resolution on the Bahawalpur province. If the centre makes any attempt to create new administrative units from existing provinces, this is constitutionally incorrect.”
Asif also criticised the makeup of the parliamentary commission, arguing that the head of the commission, Farhatullah Babar, was from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and terming the entire activity a farce to secure more votes.
“We [PML-N] are in favour of creating new provinces along administrative lines. If they are created along ethnic lines, then this will harm the nation,” Asif said, adding that the issue would die down after elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2013.
COMMENTS (11)
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How about making two Provinces in Karachi and Nawab shah will be the Capital of Karachi Governor office will be in Karachi and Chief Minister office will be in Nawab Shah.
Another Province in the name of Larkana its Capital would be in Sakhar how does it look?
It does not look very practical rather a JOKE? Mr President you could not find any serious people in Pakistan to advise you?
Restoration of Bahawalpur province There has to be some justification in making more Provinces. We cannot make provinces on ethnic grounds. Going ahead with Seraiki province and ignoring the demand of Bahawalpur Province, can result in political Upheaval. If new province to be formed it should be the restoration of Bahawalpur province as it was a self-governed state with its own revenue generating mechanism. It was merged into West Pakistan when one unit was established. After the abolition of one unit, the Bahawalpur was not given its previous status as Province. The issue of creating more provinces is very sensitive. The government has to be very careful as the consequences of such action can harm the country, but no one is interested in learning lessons from the past. Any error in judgement at this time can prove disastrous for the country. It would be better if Bahawalpur is restored before the General Elections.
Appeal
Mr Zardari try to understand and read the history of Bahawalpur what it was like when it was a state. Bahawalpur has a very different and specific culture and history. Please do not distort the history and Bahawalpur culture. If you succeed in making this new Province I can tell you Mr President the People of Bahawalpur will never forgive you far that . You are not giving us our recognitions but humiliating us by way of imposing you political will in order to make a PPP Government in Punjab on the expense of Bahawalpuri Nation. Being a Champion of DHURNA Democracy why don’t you hold a Referendum in Bahawalpur. Punjabis, local saraikis and Urdu speaking people have been living side by side from centuries in Bahawalpur without any trouble. Why do you want to create a mischief for the people of Minawali and other district of Punjab? How about we can start the same process in Sindh, Baluchistan, Fata, Hazara, Karachi, Larkana, and Hyderabad. You won't like this would you? Why do you want to create an upheaval in Pakistan? Pakistan has enough problems. Please give up your stouberness and take the blessings Dua's from the People of Bahawalpur rather than their Curse it’s up to you we are the Duwamish and poor people only thing we can give to you a Duaa or Curse. The best solution would be to make every Division a Province and have an elected Governor to run the affairs of the Province. I am sorry if you get hurt from my statement because I am hurt myself I have been raising the voice and issue of Bahawalpur for the last 40 years on every Forum in London. I am a dual national and have no political aim and objective in Pakistan. I am a political activist and want to keep it that way. I will always raise a voice for the Oppressed people in the world. Because we Bahawalpuri feel we are the Oppressed people of Pakistan our generations have been destroyed. You want to give us the so-called recognitions and keep the power in Multan. If you are indebted to Mr Gilani why don’t you let him have his separate Province of MULTAN People from Bahawalpur will support you and him.
I am very sorry to have to write to you. I had a regard for you that you are a cool and tolerant man I think you are a cruel man.
We seraiki are different than punjabis in many ways. If we have our own provice will implement sharia tooth and nail. Before modern education children will learn holy Quran first.
@wakeup: By trying to create a new province in south punjab, PPP is ... trying to gain seats in the national assembly by creating new seats for the new province.
So you agree that the demand for this province is a popular one, and the deprivation of the systematic southern Punjabis by the Laptop League is the reason behind it. The new province will get its share from the national resources directly, and wouldn't be at the mercy of the Laptop league anymore.
By trying to create a new province in south punjab, PPP is following the orders of its foreign masters and also trying to gain seats in the national assembly by creating new seats for the new province.
South punjab could act as the corridor between India and Baluchistan paving way for the breakup of pakistan. understand the real game and speak up before it's too late.
@Ali Shah: If Zardari sb has no authority to talk into Punjab's matter than PMLN does not have any authority to talk into Saraikistan matters as they are only GT rOad fascist party. leave it to politicians of Saraiki waseb to decide what they want. between this, why are you getting nagry over Punjabs divide. WHy donot you ask your GT Road rulers to consider Saraikis as humans too. Give every one their due right, and no one will not ask for division.
Why are they in favour of new provinces only in Punjab when they oppose de-limitation only in Karachi? Why breakup only Punjab? Why not other provinces too, on administrative line? Why not have 30 to 40 provinces (the size of one or two districts)?
This is nothing but an election gimmic by PPP, Q-League and MQM. While on the other hand control-freak and greedy Laptop-Sharif & N-League will never let breakup of Punjab (even on admin lines).
I support this decision. Let me try to put some reservations to rest. The new province will not be created on linguistic or ethnic basics whatever the opponents may claim - Bhakkar, Bahawalnagar, Multan and Bahawalpur all have significant Punjabi population. Dera Ghazi Khan has Pashtuns and Balochs. Mianwali is the home of the Niazi Pashtuns and has a substantial Punjabi population. So in short this province is diverse and those purporting the divide-and-rule theory should all look into this.
Additionally, Seraiki is just a dialect of Punjabi and people cannot be Seraiki as it is not a tribe or clan. Also, 17 million people speak Seraiki across KPK and South Punjab and their neighboring regions of Baluchistan and Sindh so this language is not localized. So, the "Seraiki" province is just a naive, media term.
Also, more provinces are the way to go if we want to stomp out the fires set by deprivation and negligence. Pakistan covering an area of 796,095 km2 has only 4 provinces (+4 administrative units). Countries close to Pakistan in terms of area have considerably large province counts and almost all of these countries are higher than Pakistan in Human Development Index (HDI) listings; Turkey (81 provinces), Chile (54 provinces) and Egypt (27 Governorates) being a few of these. I am not arguing that new provinces are the only way to development, I am just stating that it is one of the necessary steps. Smaller areas to administrate means more hold over the region and better allocation of resources and funds.
The motives of this government may be shadowy but new provinces on administrative grounds are the need of the hour for Pakistan.
Khawaja Asif Sb. Baloch (Balochistan) isn't a ethnicity? Sindhi (Sindh) isn't a Ethnicity? Pakhtunkhawa isn't a Ethnicity? Punjabi (Punjab) isn't a Ethnicity?
Really odd to understand that Zardari is hanlding whole of the campaign to divided Punjab on ehtnic grounds. First an foremost Zardari is not a Punjabi / Seraiki nor being a President he should be a party to these type of issues. Secondly, the created Commission has been boycotted by Punjab government. The Comnmission is headed by Farhat Ullah Baber who is from KPK with members from all parties and provinces. The division of a province is a provinical matter to start with. If Punjab is divided on linguistic grounds then get ready of division of Sindh, KPK and Baluchistan also on linguistic grounds. My advice is that people living in glass houses should not throw stones on others.