Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said decisions on the creation of new provinces and administrative units must be made with public consent rather than through closed-door discussions.

Addressing an election rally in Bagh, Bilawal said the PPP’s position on the creation of new provinces was clear and that the party would stand with the people wherever there was public support and political consensus.

“Provinces should be created according to the will of the people,” he said, adding that decisions by a few people sitting in a room would not be accepted.

Bilawal said the principle applied to Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab and every other part of the country. The PPP, he added, had neither opposed public aspirations in the past nor would it do so in the future.

He said there was consensus on the creation of a separate province in South Punjab and called for Gilgit-Baltistan to be granted provisional provincial status.

Turning to federal politics, Bilawal said the main conflict within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was between Islamabad and Lahore.

He alleged that a particular faction of the PML-N was working to undermine Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s efforts and attempting to create disputes between him and his coalition partners.

Bilawal, however, said he did not doubt the prime minister’s intentions and believed that Shehbaz’s intentions were sincere.

He said some people were talking about the government’s “countdown”, but argued that the issue stemmed from internal differences within the PML-N rather than from the PPP.

The PPP chairman also expressed concern over the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, saying the region was passing through an extremely difficult period.

He urged protesters to end their demonstrations so that normal life could resume, while calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

Bilawal criticised the phased elections in AJK, saying voting across the territory should have been held on the same day.

He alleged that the six-phase polling process was being used to facilitate rigging and claimed that the government had already secured 10 seats.

He called for free and transparent elections, saying Kashmiris themselves should decide the future of the region.

Bilawal also said a resolution for establishing a Truth Commission had been passed by the AJK Assembly, but alleged that the government was unwilling to establish the commission or hold transparent elections.

He said the problems in AJK could only be resolved through dialogue and that the people’s verdict would ultimately have to be accepted.

Bilawal also rejected the government’s expectation of forming a government in AJK, saying key constituencies in Bagh, Palandri and Haveli were yet to vote.