Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Monday slammed federal ministers seeking the establishment of new provinces, calling them products of “Form-47”, a term used by political rivals to question the legitimacy of lawmakers elected in the 2024 general elections. Rejecting their mandate, the PPP leader, whose party is an ally in the Centre with the ruling PML-N, called such federal ministers “unelected representatives”. The decades-long debate over new provinces began after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the current system had collapsed, and later, some federal ministers — including Ahsan Iqbal and Mustafa Kamal — also said that new provinces or administrative units should be set up. While the PML-N is yet to take a firm position, the PPP has said that if the people deem it fit, new provinces should be established, but the Sindh Assembly, where the PPP is in power, passed a resolution recently rejecting the idea of creating new provinces. Meanwhile, the MQM-P has fully backed the idea of creating new provinces. “Those lecturing us on the 18th Amendment are the products of Form-47; those who have secured an artificial or handed-out mandate cannot make decisions for the nation,” the senior provincial minister said during his speech in the Sindh Assembly. Memon said if Iqbal, Kamal, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif have any concerns, they can raise them in parliament. “Decisions should be taken by those [lawmakers] who secured the public’s mandate. These federal ministers should first secure a genuine mandate, then they may speak on such issues,” he said. Talking about delivery, he said that the federal government builds motorways in Punjab but “does injustice” to Sindh.