LAHORE: Senior politician and former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani claimed on Tuesday that a constitutional amendment seeking immediate restoration of Bahawalpur province and the creation of Hazara province will be tabled in the Parliament next month.
“The draft of a constitutional amendment has been prepared for restoration of Bahawalpur province and creation of Hazara province, that will be tabled in the National Assembly and the Senate in September [20270,” Mr Durrani said at a press conference.
Durrani recalled that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had presented a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly on January 29, 2019, for the creation of Bahawalpur and south Punjab provinces.
“The people of Bahawalpur and Hazara have a legitimate expectation that the leadership of the ruling parties, the PML-N and PPP, will honour their commitments and get the bill passed without any further delay,” he said.
Durrani said the debate over the creation of new provinces in the country on an administrative basis had now “entered a decisive stage.”
Recalling the struggle he had started in 2008 for the purpose, he said “Alhamdulillah, today, after 18 years of our struggle, a general consensus has been reached that new provinces should be created in the country. This is the very path that can pull Pakistan out of the quagmire of administrative, economic and social problems.”
Durrani said that an important aspect of the ongoing debate on the creation of new provinces is that all politicians, including those belonging to the ruling parties, are in agreement on Bahawalpur and Hazara provinces.
He said the proposals regarding the two new provinces is in accordance with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s formula and Mian Amir Mahmood’s divisional formula, adding that the constitutional and political requirements in this regard have already been fulfilled.
“The establishment of these two provinces is immediately possible since there’s no obstacle [in the way],” he said, adding that the two provinces would emerge as “a new model of governance.”
He said the two provinces would immediately open the doors to strengthening Pakistan’s agricultural economy and achieving economic stability. Bahawalpur province, he said, would become the “food basket for the whole Pakistan,” with its 6.4 million acres of land in Cholistan, having the capacity to meet the food requirements of the entire country.
“This province will ensure Pakistan’s food security, which is an important part of national security,” Durrani said, adding that Hazara province would become a centre for hydropower, minerals, fruits and tourism.
“These two provinces, with comprehensive local government systems, should be showcased to the people of the country,” he suggested. In addition, he said, there are neither feudal lords nor terrorists in these two provinces, and they would become an example of good governance and public empowerment.
In response to a question, Durrani welcomed theSupreme Court’s decision allowing shifting of former prime minister Imran Khan to a hospital. “This development is the result of a dialogue,” he said. “Political stability can only be brought through dialogue, and provinces can also be created through dialogue.”
Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2026
