Constitutional amendments needed to pave way for S Punjab province

MULTAN: Six articles and eight clauses of the 1973 constitution need an amendment for the creation of south Punjab province but the present situation shows a very dismal picture of the possibilities of developing consensus among the political parties to create the new province unanimously, The News has learnt.

The PTI had promised creating a province in the first 100 days of taking over the public offices and the party had also signed an agreement with the Janoobi Punjab Soba Mahaz in this connection. However, political workers have opined that all the three mainstream political parties: Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan People’s Party have developed unanimity over the division of Punjab. The PML-N has tabled the constitution amendment bill for the creation of two provinces while the PTI had created a committee for the creation of south Punjab province, fearing division among the lawmakers into south Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces, observed the senior lawyers. “It is hard to develop consensus on the south Punjab province and the situation will delay amending the six articles and 12 clauses of the constitution,” they said. Senior lawyer Irfan Haider Shamsi said that six articles and 12 clauses of the 1973 constitution need an amendment to create the south Punjab province with the two-third majority in the National and Punjab assemblies. Abbas Ahmed, an expert on the constitution, said that the constitutional amendments could not be brought without developing consensus among the lawmakers.