The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Janoobi Punjab Suba Mahaz (JPSM) have reached an agreement that will see the latter merge with the former, DawnNewsTV reported on Tuesday citing PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry.
"The negotiations between PTI and JPSM have concluded," Chaudhry said, adding that an official confirmation of the agreement is scheduled to be made in a joint press conference tomorrow.
The JPSM group, which comprises more than 15 former elected representatives of the PML-N, is expected to make its merger official after meeting PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday.
"The rest of the details will be disclosed tomorrow in Islamabad," Chaudhry added.
The JPSM is a movement of like-minded politicians, mostly from the ruling PML-N, who demand the creation of a new province in south Punjab.
Early last month, Khusro Bakhtiar, a former PML-N leader from south Punjab, had held a press conference flanked by like-minded lawmakers to demand a new province "for the security of the future of the children of south Punjab".
During his press conference, Bakhtiar had explained: "New provincial demarcations are the need of the time. We are not here to start a rift — time has made the need for new provinces very apparent."
"The demarcation of new provinces will ensure that funds allocated for Rajanpur are not given to Multan," he continued. "All we want is equality amongst the regions."
"We have a single point agenda: the creation of a new province in south Punjab," Bakhtiar had said.
Speaking of the movement's future alliances, Bakhtiar had said, "We are ready for dialogue with any party."
"Our goal is simple: when the new assemblies take oath, the legislation for a new province should be passed within the first session. If that does not happen, we will go to the Supreme Court," he had stated to cries of assent.
Later, the PTI had backed the JPSM's demand for a separate province, "not for linguistic reasons but on administrative grounds to mitigate the miseries and sense of deprivation being faced by some 35 million people living in Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions”.
