KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has voiced support for the people of Gilgit-Baltistan seeking provincial status, saying their demand is their democratic right.
Addressing a ceremony in Karachi, Bilawal said that wherever people wanted provincial status and there was public support for the move, their wishes should be respected. “Wherever people want a province, it should be created today, not tomorrow,” he said.
The PPP chairman also stated that consensus existed in Gilgit-Baltistan over the issue of provincial status.
Speaking about local government and provincial affairs, Bilawal said the local government system from Larkana to Karachi belonged to him. He also urged federal ministers Mustafa Kamal, Mohsin Naqvi and members of the business community to organize a public outreach campaign and visit different parts of Sindh, including Lyari, Sanghar, Larkana and Sujawal, to ask residents whether they wanted the province to be divided or new provinces to be created.
Bilawal’s remarks have brought renewed attention to the debate over provincial status for Gilgit-Baltistan and the question of public opinion in discussions about the creation of new provinces in Pakistan.