Seraiki province in PPP manifesto: PM

[Dance]

MULTAN:
In what is being seen as a bid to strengthen the South Punjab vote bank of his party, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Sunday that the formation of a Seraiki province would be part of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) manifesto for the next elections. He also told his detractors that his government would complete its five years in office, “come what may.”

Gilani was addressing a public gathering at the Jalalpur Pirwala stadium, more than 90 kilometres from Multan, after inaugurating an electricity project here. His announcement of support for a Seraiki province was met with a loud roar of approval and applause from the audience.

The creation of a Seraiki province is a long standing demand of people of the area. Seraiki is widely spoken in southern Punjab, whose people have often complained of a lack of development in their region compared to northern parts of the province. Gilani himself holds a national assembly seat from Multan. Last year, several PPP MNAs from the region raised the issue of a new province in the National Assembly as well as in meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari.

On Friday, Gilani told a gathering of journalists in Karachi that he was not against the creation of separate provinces in the country “provided it is done within the parameters of the democratic framework.” When asked about a separate Seraiki province in South Punjab, Gilani said he would favour such a proposal.

Analysts say that PPP support for a Seraiki province is seen within the party as a vote winner and a way to shore up its support in the area which is under threat from religious extremists. It may also trouble the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which heads the provincial government and whose top leadership is thought to be opposed to a division of Pakistan’s most populous province.

Gilani said that his government would protect the powers of all of Pakistan’s democratic institutions, including parliament. “We have neither interfered in the jurisdiction of others, nor will we allow others to interfere in our affairs,” he said, in an apparent reference to his government’s dispute with the Supreme Court over the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

The prime minister also said that the support price of agricultural produce would be raised. Gilani said that the government would complete its full five-year term. The voters gave the government a five-year mandate, he said.

“Those talking about change should not seek a five-year performance after just three years. The people have the right to hold their representatives accountable through the ballot after five years,” he said.
He said that a countrywide poverty survey was in progress under the Benazir Income Support Programme and those identified as poor would be entitled to health and life insurance. He said that a list of people too poor to pay their gas or electricity bills was also being prepared and they would be provided relief.

Targeted killings a provincial subject

Earlier talking to reporters, the prime minister said that there should be a joint strategy to control law and order in Karachi, but this was a provincial subject that came under the purview of the Sindh government.

He said that the law enforcement agencies had been told to step up their efforts and provide information to the provinces. “We have to work together to tackle the problem,” he added.

Gilani said that the recent resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly condemning the Supreme Court’s NAB chairman decision was the voice of the people. “I respect the mandate of the people and I support the resolution by the representatives of the people,” he said.

To a question about the Raymond Davis case, he accused the media of creating hype. “Nobody should try to be more patriotic than us. We are as loyal and patriotic as any Pakistani can be,” he said. “The government will not take any step that undermines the dignity and honour of the country.”

On Sunday, the prime minister inaugurated three grid stations, which cost some Rs1 billion, that will benefit more than 41,000 consumers in southern Punjab. He also inaugurated a flyover and a cancer ward at Nishtar Hospital in Multan.

Seraiki province in PPP manifesto: PM – The Express Tribune

 

[Dance]

To a question about the Raymond Davis case, he accused the media of creating hype. “Nobody should try to be more patriotic than us. We are as loyal and patriotic as any Pakistani can be,” he said. “The government will not take any step that undermines the dignity and honour of the country.”

Joke of the century

 

[Karachiite]

Seraiki Province would be a great thing. Multan and Bahwalpur are neglected cities in the South of Punjab. A province in the South of Punjab will definitely lift these cities up.
Also a Hazara province would be great too.

 

[Dance]

Zardari calls meeting to discuss Seraiki province​

KARACHI:
President Asif Ali Zardari has called a meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Manifesto Committee to consider including the formation of a Seraiki province in its list of campaign promises for the next elections, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said on Monday.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told a public gathering in Jalalpur Pirwala in southern Punjab on Sunday that such a province would be part of the party’s manifesto for the next elections. The committee, which is likely to meet next Monday, will consider other changes to the party manifesto, which was last reviewed in 2007 before the general elections, Babar said.

Also on Monday, the president chaired meetings on education and energy with the Sindh chief minister and ministers at Bilawal House. He instructed the provincial government to boost school enrolment and the quality of education provided, and to develop its own small power projects.
Briefing journalists, Babar said that Zardari had called another meeting within a month at which the relevant ministries would have to brief him on the progress made in the implementation of his directives.

Education

He said that the pathetic state of education became clear when the meeting on education was briefed that of the 11 million children of school-going age in the province, 4.5 million children were not enrolled in schools.

Twenty per cent of the province’s schools have no building, 45 per cent consist of only one or two rooms, over 60 per cent have no more than two teachers, and 60 per cent of schools do not have access to safe drinking water, the briefing was informed.

“The province is faced with an education crisis,” the president was quoted as saying. “This situation must not be allowed to continue and needs to be changed through structural improvements.”

Zardari tasked the education minister with preparing a comprehensive and workable plan to tackle the crisis. He told the Education Department to consider a management partnership with the private sector for efficient running of schools. He also sought ideas on innovative ways to raise funds and improve oversight of public schools.

“The situation points to some fundamental flaws in the system that needs to be addressed on an emergency basis,” Babar quoted the president as saying.

The president said that the Department for International Development, the British government’s foreign aid agency, had allocated over Rs11 billion (80 million pounds) for education in Sindh over the next five years and the funds would be administered through the Sindh Education Fund, which would be set up as a non-profit company under the Companies Ordinance. Assistance from the fund would be given only to those schools which fulfil certain criteria developed for the purpose.

The president asked the Education Department to gear up to meet the basic minimum criteria to be eligible for the DFID assistance. The president said funds for the improvement of rural schools could be diverted from each deh.
Energy

In the second meeting about the power and gas situation, President Zardari directed the Sindh government to develop its own power projects of under 50 MW, as provincial governments had been authorised to do since 2002. The meeting reviewed progress on an earlier directive for reactivation of abandoned gas fields in the province. The president also called for the setting up of captive power plants for selected industrial zones.

Zardari calls meeting to discuss Seraiki province – The Express Tribune

 

[Dance]

Gilani warned on new provinces’ demand​

Durrani asks Gilani not to make a mockery of issue, asks him to come up with a clear vision on Saraiki province

Staff Report

LAHORE: Bahawalpur Muttahida Mahaz chief, Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani, on Monday came down hard on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for “making mockery of the issue of Saraiki province”.

Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Senator Durrani said that rather than coming up with a specific announcement on the public demand for new provinces, the prime minister had made another promise to already deprived people of the most neglected areas of the Punjab.

Durrani said, “Gilani should come up with a clear vision on Saraiki province within next 48 hours and he should also announce the territorial boundaries of the Saraiki province. If he tried to compromise the longstanding demand of revival of Bahawalpur province with Saraiki province, he should be ready to face the public wrath. We will tag him as ‘Yahya Khan Junior’ if he tried to confuse both the legitimate demands”. “In such a case, the people of Bahawalpur province would take out a million march from Sadiq Garh Palace headed by Nawab Salahuddin Abbasi and this people’s rebellion would wipe away all conspiracies against the revival of Bahawalpur province,” he added.

Durrani also criticised Gilani’s announcement to make the new provinces a part of next election manifesto of the ruling party, saying that he wanted to win the next elections by making another false promise to the deprived people of south Punjab as the government had done disservice to the country and its people.

Senator Durrani also asked the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take immediate notice of the matter as the people of Bahawalpur expect that the executive head of the province would provide justice to them through suspension and cancellation of such auction in the already underdeveloped area. He asked the Punjab government to cancel the ‘loot sale’ of Bahawalpur state lands.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Omar1984]

Punjab will never be broken again after 1947. Punjab will only get bigger. Majority of not only Punjab's population but Pakistan's population live in Northern and Central Punjab and we will never allow Punjab to be broken again.

Do something constructive with your time PPP instead of breaking provinces and renaming provinces. This is the reason PPP will never be elected again. If you mess with Punjabis you will lose, because majority of Pakistan's population are Punjabis. The majority who goes out and vote on election day are Punjabis.

 

[Dance]

Punjab will never be broken again after 1947. Punjab will only get bigger. Majority of not only Punjab's population but Pakistan's population live in Northern and Central Punjab and we will never allow Punjab to be broken again.

Do something constructive with your time PPP instead of breaking provinces and renaming provinces. This is the reason PPP will never be elected again. If you mess with Punjabis you will lose, because majority of Pakistan's population are Punjabis. The majority who goes out and vote on election day are Punjabis.

Southern Punjab is pretty undeveloped compared to the rest of Punjab. I wouldn't mind if not only Punjab, but some of the other provinces were broken down too. It would make developing/administrating them easier.

 

[Martian]

Seraiki Province would be a great thing. Multan and Bahwalpur are neglected cities in the South of Punjab. A province in the South of Punjab will definitely lift these cities up.
Also a Hazara province would be great too.

PPP Government is under-performing so these are diversionary tactics and petty politics. They are not sincere with what they speak. Do they sell similar concept to their Sindhi voters by advocating a Karachi provience.

If reorganization of country ever required then:
Punjab should be divided into three parts: Potohar, Southern and Central
Sindh: Northern and South-Western
Baluchistan: Nothern (Pashtun) and Southern (Baluch+Brauhvi)

 

[Karachiite]

Durrani for Gilani’s reply on Seraiki province in 48 hours

LAHORE - Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani has demanded of the prime minister to inform the people of Bahawalpur about the geographical demarcation of Seraiki province in 48 hours, as they are struggling for provincial status to Bahawalpur.
Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Monday, he said that premier instead of making political statements for grabbing support in the next polls should announce the measures, which the PPP government in mind for creating Seraiki province while leaving Bahawalpur out of this plan, as the stated area had an independent identity as province in the country’s history.
He maintained that people of Bahawalpur would resort to strong protests in next 48 hours if the PM did not interpret his statement regarding the map of Seraiki province.
He claimed that 15 MNAs and 33 MPAs hailing from Bahawalpur division could not be able to secure their surety bonds submitted for contesting polls if they supported the idea for merging the Bahawalpur into the likely Seraiki province.
Alleging the Punjab Government for sending ‘front men’ to get lands on throwaway prices in Bahawalpur and other parts of the southern Punjab, he asked the Punjab chief minister to check the suspected auctions in the stated areas before fingers pointed towards the provincial chief executive.

Durrani for Gilani’s reply on Seraiki province in 48 hours | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online

 

[Imran Khan]

from saraiki belt live imran khan

hamy roti kapra or makan chayee sooba nhi. ary kam is kam hamy jeeny do bhut hai yaar.

gillani sahab sary cards khatam ho gay to multan yaad a gya . any do bachy agla election.

 

[Dance]

Idea of Seraiki province gets mixed response​

ISLAMABAD: If Pakistan People’s Party was already not mired in enough controversies and crises, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s promise to add the demand for a Seraiki province to its manifesto for the next general election has landed it in the middle of a new political storm.

Analysts are pointing out that the pronouncement by the prime minister can prove to be a politically profitable move for the PPP, keeping in mind the party’s electoral strength in south Punjab. But at the same time, it can cost it support and votes.

Starting from Multan, the home district of Mr Gilani, to Rahim Yar Khan, the Seraiki belt is home to some 52 National Assembly constituencies. People from the region have long demanded a separate province, and PPP’s recent support for the demand will earn it brownie points in the region.

Other districts which fall in this belt include Lodhran, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Vehari, D.G. Khan. Muzaffargarh, Layyah and Bahawalpur. In these districts, the PPP already has 24 MNAs, while the PML-N won 12 National Assembly seats and PML-Q 11.

Predictably, the demand has already provoked criticism from the main opposition party, the PML-N. With its support base in central Punjab, it’s not a surprise that the party will oppose the decision; the rest of the Punjab will hardly be in favour of losing a large part of itself which would affect the relative strength of the province in comparison to the others.

The spokesman for the PML-N, Ahsan Iqbal, cautioned that it was a move that had to be made after creating a national consensus. “The PML-N is not in favour of language- or ethnicity-based division of Punjab or any other province of the country because it will open a Pandora’s Box, and populations speaking other languages will come up with similar demand,” Mr Iqbal said.

He added that there should be a national exercise, supported by all the political parties, for the creation of new provinces, not only in Punjab but throughout the country. The aim should be to explore ways to provide better administration and governance.

Mr Iqbal claimed that because the PPP was losing its strength in southern Punjab to the PML-N it had come up with this political stunt.

However, according to a researcher working in the public sector, it wouldn’t be easy for the PML-N to turn down this demand because legislators from the Seraiki belt generally wanted a separate entity for their people. “The PPP has made a reasonably good move to further strengthen its power base in southern Punjab and to give a tough time to the ruling PML-N in Punjab in coming elections.”

Moreover, he pointed out that the move would enable the PPP to attract other south Punjab politicians such as PML-Q legislators Pir Muhammad Aslam Bodla, Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj and Sardar Bahadur Ahmed Khan Sihar. As these men were previously associated with the PPP and because of their constituents would welcome the decision, they would have an added reason to return to the party fold.

Unsurprisingly, Hamid Yar Hiraj of the PML-Q, a second-time MNA from district Khanewal said that Punjab had become completely ungovernable because of its size. At times, people from Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur had to travel to Lahore for the resolution of petty issues because the chief minister and his cabinet sat there. With Shahbaz Sharif continuing to hold all powers in his hands including the transfer of low-level staff, people’ lives were miserable, he added.

Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, a PPP legislator from NA-180 Muzaffargarh also spoke against a united Punjab. “The Punjabi-speaking bureaucracy persecutes us. We want the demarcation of the boundary of a new province.”

However, even for the PPP this will not be an easy choice for two reasons. One, its own leadership from the central Punjab will oppose it. Though so far there has been little outcry, there is bound to be opposition behind closed doors, which will become public if the PPP takes some concrete steps.

This was also evident from the words of Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, PPP Punjab president. From Gujranwala, he spoke cautiously and said that the proposal for a new province was in its initial stages and that it was still to be discussed by the party before it would be made part of the manifesto.

After making it clear that the party was a long way from having accepted the idea formally, he added vaguely that if this was what the people wanted, the party would accept it.

The second reason related to the Pandora’s Box cited by Mr Iqbal. Once the door is opened to the idea of the formation of new provinces on the basis of language, how will the PPP or any other party stop the Hazara community or the Pakhtun in Balochistan or the Potoharis from walking through? All of these ethnic groups can then use the Seraiki province to demand a province for themselves.

Whether or not the centralised state of Pakistan is ready for more provinces remains to be seen.

This is why the researcher quoted earlier feelings that an effective and functional local government system could address the grievances which compel people to demand new provinces. “It is a reaction to the anti-devolution lobby, which has restored the colonial commissionorate system and even strengthened it. This will merely add to the voices in favour of more provinces and more autonomy,” said the researcher.

http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/16/idea-of-seraiki-province-gets-mixed-response.html

 

[jahangeer yousaf]

i think there shouldnt be any province it becomes easy for the enemies to put on divide and rule ...... there should be one unit only pakistan no punjab,no sindh,no sarhad no balochistan ...... our recognization should be as pakistani ..............thats it

 

[Anwer Pashsa]

Today P M again revised that promise of Saraiki Province is not a loly pop.
Almost all parties are already supporting Bahawalpur province so it will make two Saraiki provinces,Bahawalpur and Multan. Only PTI and PML N are not clear at the issue of Saraiki/Multan province but it transpires that they will be forced to consider Bahawalpur and Multan as provinces.

 

[BelligerentPacifist]

While there are IMO alternatives to 'division of the Punjab' as Omar1984 puts it, like making more Districts within the Southern Punjabi Divisions to increase grass-root efficiency and allocation of funds; it is still problematic for someone from RYKhan for instance to travel a 1000km to Lahore for official documents e.g. passports; and then there's history - Multan was and would remain a power centre in politics, makes sense to make it official.

Still, give the people electricity and un-exorbitantly-expensive food items, and they're fine with no new province. But we all know it's time to marshal election sympathy, and new provinces will be used as the whipping boy.

 

[somebozo]

As if making a seraiki provience will solve the problems of seraikis..this is clearly dividing pakistan for vote bank..manifesto of Pakistan partition party..pakistan khappay (in urdu means consumed)