South Punjab province: Qureshi asks PPP, PML-N to support PTI

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had incorporated the South Punjab province in the party manifesto after in-depth consultations with the party members.

Addressing a press conference at the Multan Circuit House, he said a two-thirds majority was required for constitutional amendments to materialize the creation of a new province.

He said Nawaz Sharif had a two-thirds majority, but creation of South Punjab province was not his priority. He asked the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to support the PTI on creation of South Punjab province.

He said some elements were conspiring to create a mess in the establishment of South Punjab. “This attitude is a prime obstacle to swift creation of the province. People's problems should be addressed on their doorsteps, he said.

Meanwhile, PPP leader and former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday claimed that the government did not take political parties into confidence before announcing the establishment of an administrative secretariat for the South Punjab. Talking to reporters here, Gilani said the government was sabotaging one of the serious demands of the people.

He alleged that the Imran Khan-led party was not even serious about establishing an administrative secretariat, adding that secretariat was the solution to the miseries of people of the region. Gilani said the PPP-led government had handled the matter seriously and constituted a constitutional commission for a separate province.

He said the committee led by Farhatullah Babar had made serious efforts in this regard and held interviews with journalists, political workers, lawyers, Saraiki nationalists particularly Taj Langah and a large number of stakeholders. He said the commission produced a report and addressed the basic needs of the region, including jobs quotas in civil services, particularly DMG Group, development issues and a number of other issues.

He claimed that the proposal of two secretariats was ridiculous and was an attempt to make a serious issue a non-serious one. Gilani said the PPP government first of all tabled a resolution in the Punjab Assembly according to the Constitution.

He said the PPP got approved resolutions from the Senate and National Assembly with serious efforts and took all political parties into confidence compared to the PTI.

To a query about the establishment of two provinces, he said the proposal was not workable because creation of a province would allocate seats for the Senate and in the present situation it was not feasible.