MULTAN: PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said his party offers unconditional support to the government on the issue of creation of south Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces if legislation is done as per the resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday accompanied by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Javed Hashmi, Mr Iqbal said the National Assembly could legislate on the creation of a new province only after the assembly of the respective province passed a resolution from which the new province was being created.

“A year ago, the PML-N tabled a bill in the National Assembly for creation of these provinces and offered the government support. Even today, we extend our unconditional support to the government for the legislation if it is done according to the resolution passed by the Punjab Assembly. If the government brings in any legislation contrary to the resolution, it means it is playing a game and deceiving people,” he maintained.

He said the new province should be created according to the procedure mentioned in the Constitution.

Mr Abbasi said that no single party was in a position to create a new province itself; it could only be created when all parties agreed to it. “The Punjab Assembly passed a resolution for the creation of two provinces. It can only be done through dialogue. Such tasks can only be achieved with consensus and when debate is held in provincial and national assemblies. The matter is not limited (to the creation of south Punjab province), but there is a demand of a province from Hazara, Potohar, Kohat, Sindh and Balochistan and if the PTI is sincere over this issue then a debate should be held in the assembly and all political parties should find a solution to it,” he said.

He further said that the PML-N under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif was struggling for the supremacy of democracy and the Constitution.

“The PML-N is not struggling for power, but we want issues of the masses to be resolved and the country to progress. Everybody is aware of the obstacles in this regard. The incumbent government came to power as a result of a controversial election and everyone is aware of its failure. A flood of joblessness and price hike hit the country after this government came to power and the only reason was that it is not people’s representative government,” he claimed.

The former PM said that the government was not only victimising its political opponents, but using every tactic to suppress the press also. He said his party stood with journalists and media groups.

“Mir Shakeelur Rehman has been arrested in a bid to suppress him as his newspaper is publishing the truth. First, he was pressurised to stop writing the truth and over his refusal, he has been arrested in a fake case, which was the last tactic of the government. He has been arrested in an ugly way which has no precedent. The message of Imran Khan to the media is: if you speak the truth, you will be behind bars,” he stated.

Abbasi said the party leadership was also facing the same pressure, but was not scared of jails. “If Nawaz Sharif, Javed Hashmi, Maryam Nawaz, Rana Sanaullah and others can go to jail then we all can go to jail,” he added.

Ahsan Iqbal said a war was under way between fascist and democratic forces. “On one side are forces suppressing the freedom of expression and the other side peoples’ right to rule. We have to win this war for the sake of our coming generations,” he added.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2020