No bill, motion by PML-N deserters on South Punjab province in five years

ISLAMABAD: Although eight parliamentarians have resigned from the PML-N claiming to have one-point agenda of creating a new province in South Punjab, national and provincial legislative record show they did not utter a word during last five years to make this demand which is now being portrayed as the question of life and death for the federation.

The record shows the dissident faction, which on Monday announced to form “The South Punjab Province Mahaaz”, had failed to move a single resolution or bill during the current parliamentary tenure to indicate their desire for the South Punjab province.

Interestingly, a similar “movement” for the southern Punjab province had been launched during the last few months of the previous government but the same was also abandoned soon after the elections in 2013. The said movement failed to get traction in the 2013 elections.

According to official record of the National Assembly, not a single piece of legislation was moved in the House during the last five years to demand a new province despite the fact that the National Assembly during its previous tenure had not only passed a resolution but also started legislative process for the creation of the new province.

The assembly record shows that leader of the new faction, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar participated in legislative business six times, presented one motion and moved two bills, but none was on the issue of Southern Punjab province.

The record shows senior leader of the faction Syed Asghar Shan, who is MNA from Bahawalnagar, did not move a single bill, resolution, call attention notice or motion during his entire tenure as member of the National Assembly. He only asked one question during last five years and that too was not on the issue of southern Punjab. It was related to Petroleum Ministry.

Similarly, MNA Basit Bukhari, who also joined the dissents, did not move a single bill, resolution or motion in the assembly during last five years. He only moved three call attention notices, but none was related remotely to southern Punjab.

Another MNA of the ‘Junubi Punjab Sooba Muhaz’ Tahir Bashir also did not move a single bill in the Parliament throughout his five-year tenure. He moved one resolution and one call attention notice but those two were not related to Southern Punjab province or regional autonomy.

Yet another stalwart of the dissident group, Rana Muhammad Qasim moved one bill and one motion during the last five years. He also spoke once on point of order and twice during budget debate, but never raised the issue of Southern Punjab or Bahawalpur province during any of his legislative activities.

Similarly, MNA Tahir Iqbal from Vehari did not raise the issue of southern Punjab during the last five years despite actively participating in legislative business by raising three points of order and five call attention notices. He also moved one resolution besides asking five questions during his tenure but none was related to Southern Punjab province.

When contacted by The News, MNA Tahir Iqbal agreed that the issue of southern Punjab was not raised by the group during the last five years, but claimed that the issue is not being used for political gain.

When asked whether the issue is just an election stunt, he said: “We deliberately raised the issue ahead of elections as it should become an election issue and be made part of the manifesto of political parties.”

He said the people of the southern Punjab want a new province and the PML-N leadership had promised to create new provinces on administrative basis.

According to the report of the "Commission for creation of new province(s) in the province of Punjab", six articles of the Constitution would require to be amended to create such a province. The report was prepared by a parliamentary commission headed by former Senator Farhatullah Babar on the directions of the than President Asif Ali Zardari just ahead of the 2013 elections. But despite the preparation of the report by members of both houses, no progress was made on the issue and none of the members of newly formed faction raised any voice during their tenure in support of the report.