ISLAMABAD, July 27: Nawaz Sharif began his new term as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N on Wednesday by giving up his party’s resistance to demands for the creation of new provinces.

“Creation of new provinces is not a bad thing. However, it should be done on administrative grounds,” Mr Sharif said in his speech after being declared ‘elected unopposed’ as the PML-N president after a gap of 10 years at a meeting of the party’s Central General Council in a jam-packed Convention Centre here.

The party’s election commission, headed by former secretary general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, declared all office-bearers of the country’s largest opposition party elected unopposed.

The occasion was also marked by a last-minute agreement by veteran party figure Javed Hashmi to become one of five senior vice-presidents, elderly Sartaj Aziz also being dumped among them instead of getting the previously promised key office of secretary general, and a sentimental outburst by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

“I am in favour of creating new provinces when and where these are necessary to resolve the people’s problems,” Nawaz Sharif said in an apparent realisation that his party could face further isolation on the issue after President Asif Ali Zardari’s announcement that carving out new provinces would be part of the next election manifesto of his Pakistan People’s Party.

The PML-Q had also made it a point at the time of reaching an understanding with the PPP and joining the ruling coalition two months ago and the two parties agreed to work for creation of new provinces. Most smaller parties also support the creation of new provinces.

Mr Sharif, however, warned that if new provinces were made on linguistic, racial or ethnic basis, it would damage the country’s security and integrity. “This should only be done to strengthen national integration and only in public interest and not to draw new lines of alienation and hatred or as part of a new political game,” Mr Sharif said.

He said there were people who used to taunt the party for facing political isolation, but it was the party’s pride. “Yes, this isolation is our pride and our privilege. We cannot become part of the group of time-servers and power-mongers leaving behind our national interests,” he said.

Following are the other newly-elected office-bearers: Raja Zafarul Haq (chairman); Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Sartaj Aziz, Ghous Ali Shah, Sardar Yaqoob Nasir and Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan (senior vice-presidents); Mushahidullah Khan (information secretary); Khurram Dastagir (deputy information secretary) and Sardar Ayaz Sadiq (finance secretary).