ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Thursday that parliament was expected to debate the issue of new provinces next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing the corporate sector in late July, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had called for the creation of new provinces or administrative units, saying that the current system had \u201ccollapsed\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no National Assembly session this month; however, sessions of both the National Assembly and Senate are expected in October. The discussions will be held whenever the sessions are convened,\u201d the minister said in a video statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chaudhry reiterated that parliament was the \u201cproper forum\u201d for debating the issue of forming new provinces, adding that the debate would definitely be initiated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cParliament can hold a debate on any topic \u2014 the National Assembly has representation from all four provinces, while the Senate has equal representation from each province. Every decision made here would be taken after consultations with all political parties,\u201d Chaudhry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also expressed hope that a \u201chealthy discussion\u201d would be held on the topic during the upcoming session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chaudhry elaborated that the discussion on forming new provinces or federating units was not a debate about \u201cinheriting fortunes\u201d, while advising political parties against taking an emotional stance on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am hopeful that before making a decision on forming new provinces or administrative units in the provinces, we will bring forward Islamabad\u2019s governance model as a formal act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile maintaining the federal status of Islamabad, we will form Islamabad\u2019s first legislative assembly,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He clarified that Islamabad could not become a province and was not going to be made a separate province. \u201cWe are talking about improving its governance model by upholding its federal status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister said the draft proposing governance changes \u2014 including a legislative body with all relevant institutions under the supervision of a chief executive or mayor in Islamabad \u2014 had been prepared by a five-member committee appointed by the prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July, Naqvi had proposed a dialogue among all political parties to bring about reforms to the current governance system, while also calling for new provinces and urgent administrative reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His comments had ignited an animated debate across the country, with the PPP referring the question to its top decision-making forum, the Sindh chief minister flatly rejecting it, Lahore\u2019s lawyers terming it unconstitutional and Sindhi nationalist groups demanding the minister\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Thursday that parliament was expected to debate the issue of new provinces next month. Addressing the corporate sector in late July, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had called for the creation of new provinces or administrative units, saying that the current system had \u201ccollapsed\u201d. \u201cThere is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n