ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday presented a constitutional amendment bill to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser for establishment of South Punjab as the fifth province of Pakistan.
FM Qureshi maintained that he had presented the bill on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s order and that the establishment of South Punjab as a province was part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s election manifesto.
At the request of Qureshi, the speaker decided to make the bill a part of the house’s agenda for Monday, March 28. “Today we have fulfilled another promise made to the people of South Punjab”, Qureshi said.
Talking to journalists, the foreign minister asked the opposition parties including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to support the constitutional amendment bill, envisaging establishment of South Punjab province.
Qureshi said PTI is the first government which has made serious efforts for the establishment of South Punjab province. He said it is the first time in the country’s history that a separate annual development plan was given to South Punjab.
Responding to a question, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the opposition’s no confidence motion against the Prime Minister will face defeat. “We will face their motion in a democratic, constitutional and political manner,” he added.
Earlier this week, the incumbent government circulated a summary for the cabinet’s approval to amend the Constitution in order to split the Punjab province and create a fifth province of Pakistan amid serious political crisis and questions over its majority in the National Assembly.
The South Punjab province – proposed to comprise of three divisions – will have 56 seats of the National Assembly and the new provincial assembly will have 119 seats, according to the draft bill moved to create the fifth province of Pakistan.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has chosen to seek the cabinet’s nod through circulation instead of bringing the summary in the regular cabinet meeting for discussion and then approval.
