Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Monday slammed federal ministers seeking the establishment of new provinces, calling them products of “Form-47”, a term used by political rivals to question the legitimacy of lawmakers elected in the 2024 general elections.
Rejecting their mandate, the PPP leader, whose party is an ally in the Centre with the ruling PML-N, called the federal ministers “unelected representatives”.
The decades-long debate over new provinces began after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the current system had collapsed, and later, some federal ministers — including Ahsan Iqbal and Mustafa Kamal — also said that new provinces or administrative units should be set up.
While the PML-N is yet to take a firm position, the PPP has said that if the people deem it fit, new provinces should be established, but the Sindh Assembly, where the PPP is in power, passed a resolution recently rejecting the idea of creating new provinces. Meanwhile, the MQM-P has fully backed the idea of creating new provinces.
“Those lecturing us on the 18th Amendment are the products of Form-47; those who have secured an artificial or handed-out mandate cannot make decisions for the nation,” the senior provincial minister said during his speech in the Sindh Assembly.
Memon said if Iqbal, Kamal, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif have any concerns, they can raise them in parliament.
“Decisions should be taken by those [lawmakers] who secured the public’s mandate. These federal ministers should first secure a genuine mandate, then they may speak on such issues,” he said.
Talking about delivery, he said that the federal government builds motorways in Punjab but “does injustice” to Sindh.
‘18th Amendment-like consultation’
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar has called for 18th Amendment-like consultations over the issue of new provinces. “Making a decision on new provinces in haste would undermine the unity of the federation, he said.
He added that dividing Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan without the input of the public and their representatives would create complications.
“No contentious legislation should be done on new provinces,” he added.
Speaking to Geo News, Defence Minister Asif said he has no information related to the establishment of new provinces, adding that he welcomes the proposal for changing the governance system of Islamabad.
“It is good that an independent institution would be established in Islamabad. You may call it an assembly as well or a provincial government or the government of the capital,” he said.
Drawing comparisons with other global capitals, he said that neighbouring India has an independent government in New Delhi. “There’s nothing to be hesitant about,” the defence czar said.
He further said that Afghanistan had a few provinces earlier but now they had 34-35, and mentioned that in a meeting with ousted president Ashraf Ghani, he told him that it made governance better.
“This is a national issue, and there should be no opposition to it. This will strengthen the federation and the provinces,” he said, adding: “Maybe people are getting confused with the term provinces; we should use administrative units.”
