Fazlur Rehman warns against politicizing debate over new provinces

QUETTA: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman said Tuesday that creating new provinces in Pakistan is not a simple matter and warned against raising such proposals to divert attention from the country’s pressing challenges.

Speaking at a news conference in Quetta, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F) chief said there was nothing inherently wrong with creating additional provinces, but questioned whether the country could currently bear the political and administrative burden.

He said any proposal should take Pakistan’s constitutional and demographic realities into account.

Referring to recent remarks by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Fazlur Rehman said such statements were unlikely to have been made without consultation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He added that new political debates were often introduced to shift attention away from more urgent national issues.

The JUI-F leader also called on Mahmood Khan Achakzai to convene a joint opposition meeting to discuss the country’s political situation, saying his party would organize a nationwide opposition gathering if such a meeting was not called.

Fazlur Rehman criticized what he described as weak democratic institutions, saying democracy cannot flourish if governments are formed without the public’s mandate.

He called for governance in accordance with the Constitution and urged the adoption of fair national policies to address the country’s political, economic and security challenges.