Dissenting voice: Rabbani throws spanner in new province’s works

Going against party policy, he calls for administrative reasoning for creating BJP.

ISLAMABAD:

Veteran PPP leader Raza Rabbani, going against party policy, has called for creating provinces based on administrative necessity and recommended a detailed financial study on the feasibility of creating a new province – Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab. 

These recommendations were made by Rabbani in his reiteration note, as a part of the final report presented to the upper house of parliament by the Senate Committee on Law and Justice on the 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill under which the new province will be created.

The new province of Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab, according to the commission’s recommendation, shall comprise Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan Divisions, along with the districts of Mianwali and Bhakhar.

Earlier on Wednesday the report on the draft Bill, which had been referred to the committee after it was tabled by Senator Kazim Khan during the February 8 session of the Senate, was passed by the Senate committee amidst strong opposition from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the grounds that no new province should be created purely on linguistic basis.  PML-N legislators have alleged that the ruling PPP is using the opportunity to gain political mileage during the coming elections, despite the fact that it does not have majority in the lower house of the Parliament or the Punjab Assembly to get the Bill passed with a two-thirds majority.



During the deliberations, Senator Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq bitterly opposed the Bill by drawing attention of the committee towards Article 33 of the constitution which stated that no province could be created on linguistic basis.

He added that the proposed amendment would open a Pandora’s box by generating new demands for more provinces. He stated that under Article 239(4), only the limits of provinces can be altered by the parliament and no new province can be created.

PML-N Senator Zafar Ali Shah pointed out that Parliament has no authority to create new provinces as the electoral college, that is, the population at large, has not entrusted any political party with this mandate.

In his reiteration note, Senator Rabbani argued that the creation of new province is a historical process. He noted that the present Bill would further aggravate the national, ethnic, linguistic and natural resources questions.

“I concede that in these regions, a separate province will be a political slogan for elections, but national decisions are based on firmer reasoning.”

“If the creation of new province is on the basis of administrative necessity, then the entire federal structure will require a revisit,” said Rabbani, noting that the financial impact and liabilities will impact on the federal budget and NFC, which shall have its own repercussion on other provinces.

The 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2013 is likely to present for voting in the Senate during the next week in a bid to get it passed. However, it is likely that the Bill would lapse due to absence of a two-thirds majority in the NA, with the PPP led coalition partners.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2013.