ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: With general elections fast approaching, the Parliamentary Commission on Creation of New Provinces in Punjab has intensified its work and started finalising its recommendations as well as drafting a constitution amendment bill on carving out one or two more federating units.

Talking to Dawn after presiding over an in-camera meeting of the commission here on Tuesday, its chairman Farhatullah Babar said important progress had been made and work had been started on the draft of the constitution amendment bill which would be presented before parliament.

Expressing the hope that the commission would complete its task soon, he said the bill was being drafted keeping in view all matters related to new provinces, including distribution of financial resources. He did not disclose whether the commission was working on the plan to create two new provinces – Seraiki and Bahawalpur – as proposed by some of the stakeholders and experts or it is going to recommend only one province with the name of South Punjab, which is the undeclared position of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

“I will not talk on the issue of new province or provinces, you know it,” he said. When asked why the commission was preparing the draft bill when its task was only to make recommendations on creation of one or two new provinces, he said it was its responsibility to also identify the articles needed to be amended and that how it could be done.

Mr Babar, who is also a spokesman for the Presidency, said the commission had no powers to form a province and it was just supposed to prepare a report. The legislation, he said, would be required to be passed by both houses of parliament with a two-thirds majority. He said even after the passage of the bill by the two houses of parliament, the president could not sign the act unless the Punjab Assembly cleared it with a two-thirds majority.

Replying to a question, Mr Babar said he had formally sent a request to National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza to extend the time-limit for the commission to complete its task.

Earlier, briefing reporters after the meeting, Mr Babar said members of the commission had expressed reservations over recent statements of some government functionaries and politicians in support of and against the creation of Bahawalpur province. He said the commission had disassociated itself from all the statements made either by the governor, a minister or any leader of a political party on the subject. “Whatever has been said by anybody, regardless of his position, is not the view of the commission,” he said.

He was apparently referring to a recent statement by Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood that a resolution would soon be moved in the National Assembly for restoration of Bahawalpur province. The PML-N members, including Leader of Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, criticised the statement and announced that they would not accept the commission’s report. Chaudhry Nisar had stated that new provinces in Punjab would not be carved out on the wishes of the Makhdooms.

In a speech in the National Assembly on Tuesday, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal accused the government of being insincere to the stated objective of creating new provinces and only engaging in point-scoring.

On the other hand, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira blamed the PML-N for refusing to name its representatives on the bipartisan parliamentary commission which it had itself proposed in a resolution adopted by the Punjab Assembly.

Sources said the commission had invited some officials of the law ministry on Wednesday to seek their opinion on the bill being drafted by it.

A source privy to the development said the commission might recommend the creation of only one new province comprising the Seraiki-speaking areas of south Punjab but it could be named as Bahawalpur to satisfy all stakeholders.