LAHORE(The COW News Digital ) Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has said that any decision on creating new provinces in Pakistan will ultimately be taken by Parliament, stressing that discussions held at economic forums or seminars would not produce a meaningful outcome.
Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Sanaullah said the issue of new provinces should be debated on the parliamentary floor, where political parties could present their positions and a formal decision could be reached.
Responding to recent remarks by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi regarding the creation of new provinces, Sanaullah said that the matter had not yet been formally presented before either the federal cabinet or Parliament.
He said that if the people wanted new provinces, there was no constitutional mechanism to prevent the matter from being considered. However, he added that the question of whether the public supports the creation of new provinces would ultimately have to be dealt with through Parliament.
Sanaullah said the federal minister had so far not raised the issue in the cabinet or Parliament. According to him, if a joint sitting of Parliament approved the proposal, the next constitutional process could include a referendum.
He further said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was consulting internally on its position regarding the creation of additional provinces. The party, he added, would take into account the views of its workers at the district and union council levels before presenting a formal policy position.
“The matter of creating or not creating provinces has to be decided by Parliament,” Sanaullah said, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would also discuss the issue.
The adviser emphasized that political debates on provincial restructuring should be shifted from public forums to Parliament, where all political parties could participate and place their arguments on record.
Sanaullah also spoke about the planned march by Jamaat-e-Islami over rising petroleum prices. He said he had requested the party’s leadership to postpone the march for one or two weeks.
He said the PML-N also wanted petroleum prices to come down and described Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party capable of holding peaceful demonstrations.
However, commenting on the planned protest by another political party, Sanaullah expressed concern that its march might not remain peaceful.
He urged Jamaat-e-Islami leaders to reconsider the timing of their protest, saying they should avoid unnecessary hardship while the government and political parties continued to address public concerns over fuel prices.
The remarks come amid renewed political debate over administrative restructuring and demands for the creation of additional provinces in Pakistan.
