Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that reset means correcting the governance system, not derailing it, and added that the present system should not to be replaced, but be resurrected.
Addressing the National Policy Dialogue at the University of Management and Technology (UMT) in Lahore, Mohsin Naqvi said there was a time to revisit the country’s system. “We have to put our house in order by remaining within the limits of the constitution,” he said, and added that there was a need to raise the standard of education and provide basic facilities to the people such as clean drinking water, health and others.
However, he said if the masses were in favour of new provinces, they should be created, and if they were against it, they should not be created. “These are the people, and not one individual, who have to give a verdict on the issue,” he opined.
The minister stressed the need for building consensus on the issue. “There is a need for a national dialogue so that consensus could be developed.”
Personally, he went on to say, he was in favour of the creation of Islamabad as a province.
Naqvi said that 55 percent of people in the country did not have access to clean drinking water. “As many as two million cases are pending in courts,” he said.
Naqvi said that his previous comments advocating for reforming the governance system were not directed at any particular political party. “My statement was neither a reference to any political party nor to any political arrangement,” he added.
Contending that the country’s administrative system had lost its effectiveness, he said, “Its impact is not reaching the public at all.”
Naqvi called for undertaking the administrative reforms he proposed as per the Constitution. “It has to be done through democratic means.”
“Under no circumstances are we ready to accept that we have become so incapable that we cannot reset this system,” he said, calling for political parties to hold deliberations on the matter.
Naqvi asserted he would not abandon the idea, adding that many “emotional” speeches were being made about the administrative units. He urged politicians not to get emotional about the topic, adding the change was not one that would happen overnight.
The minister said he had taken oath that he would not allow anything to happen that would be unconstitutional.
He questioned why there was no other city in Punjab like Lahore, or like Peshawar in KP.
“Are we waiting for the population bomb to explode?” he questioned.
The interior minister said it was unfortunate that Islamabad got nothing from the NFC Award.
The minister made it clear that no individual or a political party could prevent the formation of new provinces.
He lamented that more than 20 million children were still out of schools. “The government has not been able to provide nutritious food to four, out of every 10 children.”
Naqvi went on to say that it was wrong to say that the creation of new provinces would be a burden on national kitty.
However, he said that new administrative units in the country should not be formed on the basis of ethnicity.
The minister asked whether bureaucrats sitting in Lahore or any other provincial capital could run the entire province.
It was unfortunate, Naqvi lamented that despite so many shortcomings, some people were still opposed to the creation of new provinces in the country.
“Punjab will not cease to be Punjab. Neither Sindh will cease to be Sindh due to the formation of new administrative units,” he said, and stressed that the decision in this regard should not be taken in haste, but it should be a calculated one.
Now, he said, now the country would produce mayors like Zohran Mamdani and Sadiq Khan.
Naqvi said that he would not back down on the issue come what may. “I will continue to voice support for new provinces even if I no longer remain a minister.”
Referring to a speech made by Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he said that he had termed provincialism a ‘bane’. “Are we going against Quaid’s statement?” he questioned.
The minister hoped that new administrative units would be formed in the country.
Our problem is trust deficit, not trade deficit: Maqbool
Addressing the participants, senior MQM leader and Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said “I will true to speak as truthfully as much the democracy is free in this country.”
He maintained that there is no other way except dialogue to overcome the challenges. “There is no need for a democracy whose fruits do not reach the people,” he remarked.
“The people are being represented by families. The feudal system has collapsed,” he said and added, Pakistani rulers have all kinds of luxury as they use the law the way they wish.
“Without NFC and BFC, everything is hypocrisy,” the minister said, adding “Our problem is not trade deficit but trust deficit.”
Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain said that new provinces will bring administrative, security and economic conveniences.
“Every division should be made a province as it is crucial to understand the importance of establishing new provinces,” he said and added “Ask those who are not in favour of it. Why new provinces should not be created? Those who oppose it are afraid that they will lose their palaces.”
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmed Khan, while speaking at the National Policy Dialogue, said that there is a dire need for civil services reforms as local governments overlap with provincial governments.
“There is no point in talking about reforms without implementing the Constitution, and development is not possible without empowering public representatives,” he averred.
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