Naqvi may lose job over new provinces claim: Ghani

He also criticised PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami for what he described as an ambiguous stance on the creation of new provinces, claiming that their lawmakers had avoided the assembly when it was time to publicly state their positions on the issue.

Ghani said the people of Sindh should distinguish between political parties that genuinely represented their sentiments and those that raised slogans against new provinces but remained absent from the assembly when the issue came up for debate and voting. "The people of Sindh should see that PTI also wants the division of Sindh in some way.

They make certain declarations on the streets to deceive the people, but run away when the issue comes before the assembly," he said. He said a Jamaat lawmaker had also left the assembly while voting was under way and did not participate in it.

"Neither I nor any PPP lawmaker have received a phone call asking us to support the creation of a new province," he clarified. Responding to remarks by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Ghani said he did not know what she meant but termed her statement "highly irresponsible", particularly the suggestion that Pakistan faced no threat from foreign countries.

He said Pakistan's internal security situation was also affected by neighbouring countries, particularly Afghanistan and India, adding that terrorist attacks had occurred in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Karachi and Punjab. "Terrorist organisations are present across all provinces and foreign countries are behind them.

It is beyond comprehension to say that there is no threat from foreign countries," he said. The Punjab chief minister had said on Saturday that her province faced a greater security threat from "neighbouring provinces than from neighbouring countries".

Speaking at an AI technology event in Lahore, she said: "The unfortunate thing is that the threat [Punjab] faces comes less from my neighbouring countries and more from my neighbouring provinces.

"Her remarks drew criticism from journalists, anchorpersons and political parties, who described them as chauvinistic, racist and divisive, arguing that they could be seen as indirectly absolving India and Afghanistan of responsibility for terrorist violence in Pakistan. K-P chief minister's Karachi visit.

Commenting on K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi's visit to Sindh, Ghani said the provincial government had neither stopped him from entering the province nor had any policy of restricting his movement. "If the government had a policy of stopping him, he would not have been allowed to enter Sindh in the first place.

He was not stopped anywhere," he claimed. However, several major roads and thoroughfares in Karachi were blocked ahead of Afridi's visit, as authorities took measures to prevent him from holding a planned public rally. Ghani said the K-P chief minister had apparently announced plans to hold the rally on Shahrah-i-Quaideen.

"We have never allowed anyone to hold a rally on Shahrah-i-Quaideen, nor have we held one ourselves," he said, adding that political parties should use designated grounds or open spaces to minimise inconvenience to the public. He said some roads could be closed if the K-P chief minister proceeded with a rally on Shahrah-i-Quaideen.