Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President, Makhdoom Javed Ahmed Hashmi, on Thursday urged the Parliament to create new provinces for better administration and good governance in the country and called upon the government to hold local bodies' elections.
"There is no harm, in establishing new provinces for better administration. People are expressing their desire to set up new provinces. We shall have to give them their due rights. They are demanding provinces like Saraiki, Karachi, Hazara, Dera Ismail Khan, Potohar, Bahawalpur and Pakhtoon. The PPP, ANP and other parties also agreed to create new provinces and now the PML-N should also join hands for this purpose," Javed Hashmi said while taking part in the debate on the Presidential address.
"Now, it is time for the parliament to decide how to run Pakistan. We should not leave this to the next assembly. If we did not take decisions today then the map of Pakistan would be changed," he warned. Hashmi said that there is no harm in establishing new provinces in the interest of the country. Punjab is not more beloved than Pakistan for us. He said that the population of Pakistan was only 30 million when it came into being which was now around 180 million. He said that only a Chief Minister, IGP and a Chief Secretary could not look after 100 million people of Punjab. For this purpose, Javeed Hashmi said, a formula should be devised to create new provinces.
While referring to the neighbouring country, he said that India is going to create more than two to three provinces and we should also set-up more provinces if we wanted to make Pakistan stable. Hashmi said, "We have to transfer powers at local level to resolve the problems of the people and for this purpose there is need to set up transparent system."
He added that the elections of local governments have been delayed for many months. This was done for the interest of the parties. "I demanded of the government to hold elections of local bodies and to improve and make it a transparent system." He said that power should be decentralised at district level and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Chief Secretary should also be made answerable to the district assembly.
Paying tribute to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he said that the country produced no leader like him. Great injustice was done to both Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, he added. He said that he and his party members understood the politics of Hakim Ali Zardari but "you have to be a PhD to understand the politics of Asif Ali Zardari.
About the corruption, he said that the whole nation is saying that there is corruption in the government. He added that there is need of new system to stop corruption in the country. Nadeem Afzal Gondal, while participating in debate on presidential address, said that the law enforcing agencies were playing a key role against terrorism and "we should not criticise them".
PML-Q lawmaker Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said that the people have elected us for the resolution of their problems. He alleged that the government did nothing for welfare of the people, adding that unemployment, lawlessness and inflation have increased.
He said three years were sufficient for showing progress in any field but the government has failed to devise any concrete policies for health, education and poverty alleviation. Awais Leghari said Benazir Income Support Programme forms were being distributed among political workers instead of the poor. He said that the parliament should give power to the Election Commission of Pakistan for holding free, fair and transparent elections in the country.
He also demanded to restore local government system and hold election in this regard so that problems of the masses could be addressed at grass-root level. He said the people have fed up of the parliament as it has failed to deliver to them. MQM leader Salahuddin and Zafar Baig Bhitani also participated in the debate.