March 05, 2007	Monday	Safar 15, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 4: The first ever Youth Parliament in Pakistan Sunday witnessed a heated debate on the issue of redefining the boundaries of the provinces.

The discussion on the issue of provincial autonomy and challenges to federalism turned to be a debate over whether or not there should be more provinces, with the members giving arguments for and against the idea.

Those who spoke in favour of more provinces were of the opinion that it would empower the neglected segments of the society living in far-flung areas. Those opposing it, however, said there were only four provinces but at times they could not reach a consensus on issues like NFC award. They said the situation would go out of control if more provinces were created.

They said if Punjab is divided into more provinces, there would be voices from other provinces for divisions on ethnic lines and there would be no end to it.

Some speakers were of the view that there was need to have more provinces in Punjab but the creation of more provinces should remain confined only to Punjab.

The session was presided over by former speaker of the National Assembly Gohar Ayub Khan.

Youth Law Minister Syed Ali Raza said one must not be afraid of creation of more provinces. “We are not talking about division of Pakistan. The geographical boundaries of the country will remain unchanged,” he remarked. He said it would curtail powers of the inspector general and chief secretary and empower the citizens of Pakistan. He said the status quo had to be broken to stave off the possibility of emergence of power centers within the province. He said creation of more provinces would provide a way forward to bringing the exploitative system to an end.

Leader of the Opposition, Maryam Raza Zaidi opposed the idea of having more provinces and said she did not see any relevance of creation of more province with provincial autonomy. She was of the view that there was need to refine the existing system and address the concerns of smaller provinces.

She called for abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) and demanded self-rule for Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Federally Administered Northern Areas. She rejected the argument that it would affect the Kashmir cause.

Maryam Raza Zaidi emphasized the need for strengthening the Senate and said there should be direct elections to the Upper House. She opposed the idea of constructing controversial Kalabagh Dam.

During the discussion, different speakers expressed the view that population should not be the sole criterion for the award of NFC and index of backwardness and difference in per capita income had also to be taken into account while making a decision.

They called for giving social justice to the people living in different parts of the country without any discrimination to avert the repeat of what happened in 1971.

Conceived and initiated by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), a research and training institute, focused on strengthening democracy and democratic institutions, the Youth Parliament Pakistan provided youth MPs a chance to experience life in the parliamentary spotlight and at the same time show how the next generation would approach parliamentary politics in Pakistan.

The Youth Parliament, which has 60 members from all over the country aged between 18 and 29, provided a platform for the young to face the pressure of adversarial politics and discuss issues of concern to young people in Pakistan. The Youth Parliament of Pakistan held its first session at Islamabad from January 24 to January 28, 2007.

The idea behind Youth Parliament is to inculcate in youth the values and culture of democracy as central to effective governance in any society. The Youth Parliament has been designed to demonstrate to youth how parliament is able to make legislation; to debate matters of national and international concern; to demand accountability from those in government; to change government without recourse to civil disorder; and to make and enforce their own rules of conduct, practice and behavior. The Youth Parliament project received cooperation of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Pakistan, while the project is supported by the Global Opportunities Fund of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany.

The membership of Youth Parliament has been selected from across Pakistan through an intensive evaluation and interview process by an independent steering committee including MPs, former speakers, representative of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Pildat.