The Pakistani government will unfold a promised package on Balochistan in parliament on Tuesday in a major political move to appease the long-standing dissent in the troubled province, local media reports said.
The National Assembly and Senate will meet in a joint sitting called by President Asif Ali
Zardari on Tuesday afternoon to hear from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani a likely set of
both political and administrative ways to peacefully address what is usually called the
"Balochistan problem".
The prime minister had last-minute discussions on Monday with the president and a
parliamentary committee that formulated the proposals for the package, which a presideFntial
spokesman said in a statement "contains a series of constitutional reforms, economic measures and administrative steps to assuage the hurt feelings of the people of Balochistan."
The joint sitting will likely be prorogued after the presentation of the package, which a
parliamentary source of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) said could be debated in
another joint sitting for approval after the Eidul Azha, which falls on Nov. 28, according to
the private newspaper Dawn.
Various political parties welcoming the Balochistan Package have said it would remove
the sense of deprivation in the province and prove a milestone towards provincial autonomy
and removing poverty in the far-flung areas of the country, the official news agency APP said
in a report.
Senior PPP leader and Federal Minister Najmuddin Khan said the announcement of package reflects the sincerity of democratic government towards development and prosperity of less-developed areas of the country.
Though the government has refrained from revealing any details, its spokesmen have said
the document will be based on the report of the parliamentary committee headed by Senator
Raza Rabbani of the PPP and also draw on the recommendations of a committee of the previous parliament.
The package is likely to come up mainly with short-term administrative and political measures while the issue of autonomy could wait for constitutional amendments, which are being considered by another Rabbani-headed joint parliamentary committee and which could apply to all the four provinces.
Its very official name of "Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan" (the beginning of the rights of
Balochistan) indicates the package is not intended to solve all problems that have afflicted the province since the early days of Pakistan, marked by armed revolts and exiles of nationalist leaders and activists, some of whom even espoused secessionist plans, said the Dawn
report.
An official statement quoted Gilani as calling the package in his meeting with the
parliamentary committee as a "historical step "forward which he hoped would "go a long
way in redressing the grievances and removing the sense of deprivation among the people of
Balochistan and will strengthen the federation of Pakistan."