Senate body to take up bills on new provinces next week.

ISLAMABAD -- At a time when political temperatures are on the rise and warring politicians are not even ready to sit on the table, the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice is set to take up two controversial constitution amendment bills seeking creation of new provinces in the country.

The two bills, moved by senators belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) seeking creation of South Punjab and Hazara provinces, are part of the nine-point agenda issued by the Senate Secretariat for the March 22 meeting of the law and justice committee headed by Ali Zafar of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Under the Constitution, a two-third majority in both houses of the parliament is required to carry out an amendment to the Constitution. The Senate committee members are set to review the bills at a time when the National Assembly has a total of 217 members in the house, 11 short of the required two-third majority (228 members) due to the stalemate over the PTI members' resignation issue.

The bill seeking creation of south Punjab province had been tabled by PML-N Senator from Multan Rana Mehmoodul Hassan as a private member's bill on January 17 last year when the PTI was ruling the country. The bill was immediately supported by the PTI as well as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), but was opposed by another PML-N senator.

'It is a wail of our deprivations,' Mr Hassan had stated while presenting the case for south Punjab province before the upper house of parliament.

People residing in the southern parts of Punjab were facing multiple hardships, he said, adding that they had to travel long distances only to fetch drinking water, complaining that the people of South Punjab did not even have that quantity of water which was being used to water plants in Islamabad.

While pleading for the south Punjab province, he also referred to the East Pakistan tragedy in 1971. He reminded the PTI of its promise to make south Punjab a separate province within 100 days in power.

PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, while opposing the move, said building or creating new provinces would open a Pandora's box, which the federation could not afford at the moment. Instead of a new province, the PML-N senator had...

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