Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Sunday that efforts to build political agreement on creating new provinces were close to succeeding. He added that such a deal could quickly change the country’s political landscape.
Speaking on a television talk show, Asif said consultations on the issue had been running for several weeks. In his view, the process of reaching consensus would not take much longer. He said the matter was moving towards a conclusion.
Minister says no party should feel threatened
Asif said there was no reason for any group to feel politically threatened by a possible new administrative structure. He argued that political circumstances kept changing. He also suggested Pakistan could see a new system in the coming year, but he did not explain what form it might take or offer details of the proposed arrangements.
Asked about the political effects, Asif said the creation of new provinces or administrative units should not be seen as a danger to any party. He expressed confidence that the reservations of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) could turn into consensus within a few months. He also said he did not know the exact mechanism through which new provinces or administrative units would be set up.
Local government and the 18th Amendment
The defence minister said politicians themselves had contributed to the current situation. In his view, full implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment could have produced effective local government systems or administrative units. He said that, had it been carried out properly, the results would already be visible and people would be seeing better services.
Asif maintained that the lack of an effective local government structure had kept people from receiving the benefits of devolved governance. He repeated that the proposed changes should not create political insecurity, saying the political situation was not fixed and new arrangements could help governance.
Meetings between Zardari, Naqvi and Sharif
Referring to recent political contacts, Asif said a meeting had taken place between President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. He said another meeting followed, involving the president and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He said he had no information about the details of the reported meeting between the president and the prime minister.
Earlier, the President House rejected media reports that Zardari and Naqvi had discussed new provinces during a meeting. Those reports had claimed the two discussed the possibility during a meeting in Nawabshah on Thursday night. Asif said political voices emerging from Sindh reflected a desire for greater clarity on the issue. He added that private discussions were not made public until decisions were finalised, which he described as normal practice in national and international politics.
An official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said Zardari and Sharif discussed the country’s political, economic and security situation at the premier’s residence in Model Town, Lahore, on Saturday.
