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PPP will work for creation of Seraiki province, says Gilani

ISLAMABAD - In what is being seen as a bid to strengthen the South Punjab vote bank of Pakistan People’s Party, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the creation of a Seraiki province in souther Punjab would form part of the PPP’s manifesto for the next elections.

By Afzal Khan

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Published: Wed 16 Mar 2011, 12:06 AM

Last updated: Tue 19 May 2020, 5:59 PM

He also told his opponents that his government would complete its five years in office, “come what may”. He said those asking him for accountability ?should wait for more years.
Gilani was addressing a public gathering at the Jalalpur Pirwala stadium, more than 90 kilometres from his home town of Multan, after inaugurating an electricity project here. His announcement of support for a Seraiki province was met with a loud roar of approval and applause from the audience.
Seraiki language is spoken in South Punjab and parts of Sindh province. The demand for a separate province will undermine PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s dominance of country’s most populous province, Punjab.
Analysts say that PPP’s support for a Seraiki province is seen within the party as a vote winner and a way to shore up its support in the area which is under threat from religious extremists.
Gilani said that his government would preserve the powers of all democratic institutions within their constitutional parameters, including parliament. “We have neither interfered in the jurisdiction of others, nor will we allow others to interfere in our affairs,” he said, in an apparent reference to his ?government’s dispute with the Supreme Court over the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.
But speaking to journalists on arrival in Islamabad Gilani dismissed the apprehension that PPP’s condemnation of the Supreme Court verdict annulling the appointment Deedar Shah as chairman of the NAB would lead to clash with the judiciary.
mafzalkhan@yahoo.com

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