AS media reports quoting official sources and statements of some Federal Ministers suggest so far no final decision has been taken whether to create new provinces, new administrative units or greater devolution of powers to the district and local governments, political temperature is rising on the issue creating further division in the already polarized society. There are, therefore, legitimate demands that the issue must not be sorted out in haste and a decision should be taken following exhaustive national debate and visible consensus.
There is logic in the Government’s claims that the objective should be to improve governance and ensure better delivery to the people, who are the major stakeholders in the system. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is not alone in pronouncing that the system has utterly failed to deliver and needs reforms as frustration among masses is growing because the existing arrangement serves elite and basic problems of the ordinary citizen are compounding with the passage of the time. However, there are different stakeholders of the system, the most important being people of Pakistan and there should not be an impression of a solution being imposed. No doubt, any mechanism that is to be evolved will apply equally to all federating units but ironically some circles consider it as an attempt to divide Sindh. The viewpoint of the PPP leadership is crystal clear but even Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan has warned that dividing Sindh without the consent of its people would weaken the federation, calling for broad consultation before any decision on the creation of new provinces. KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also chipped in by declaring that the PTI stood with the people of Sindh on the issue of provinces. Chief of JUI(F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman made a balancing statement saying his party was not against new provinces but ‘time and circumstances’ must also be considered. As the issue of new provinces keeps on testing the nerves of the nation time and again, it is important that the ongoing debate should be taken to a logical conclusion to sort out the matter once for all.
