LAHORE (The Thursday Times) — President Asif Ali Zardari called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the prime minister’s residence in Model Town, Lahore, on Saturday, as the governing coalition’s partners continued to argue over how new provinces could be created.
The two leaders discussed the country’s political and economic situation, according to an official statement. No further details of the talks were made public.
The meeting came two days after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi flew to Nawabshah for talks with Zardari, hours after calling for a referendum to settle the question of new provinces.
The President House said on Friday that provinces had not been discussed at that meeting. “There is no truth to media reports suggesting that matters concerning the provinces were discussed during the interior minister’s meeting with the president,” a spokesperson said, adding that the talks had covered national security and the regional situation.
Coalition partners differ on the route
Naqvi has argued that a public vote is the best way to decide whether new provinces should be created. Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of the PML-N and Sindh minister Nasir Hussain Shah of the PPP have said that a referendum alone cannot create a province, while Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan backed a referendum.
Under Article 239 of the Constitution, a change to a province’s boundaries needs a constitutional amendment passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and approved by two-thirds of the assembly of the province concerned.
