ISLAMABAD: The federal government will hold debates in the National Assembly and Senate on the creation of new provinces when Parliament meets in October, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Thursday, as the debate over restructuring Pakistan’s administrative map gains fresh momentum.
Chaudhry said Parliament was the appropriate forum for discussing the creation of new provinces and that differing views on the issue should be brought before both houses.
He said the National Assembly and Senate would not meet in September but were expected to convene in October, when the matter would be taken up for debate.
“The real forum for discussion on the creation of new provinces is Parliament,” Chaudhry said.
The announcement comes after weeks of renewed debate over whether Pakistan’s existing four-province structure is suitable for a population of around 260 million and whether smaller administrative units or empowered local governments could improve governance and service delivery.
Islamabad not being considered as province
Amid speculation about the status of Islamabad, Chaudhry clarified that there was no proposal to convert the federal capital into a separate province.
He said Islamabad was instead moving towards a new governance model aimed at improving the administration of the capital.
“There is no proposal under consideration to make Islamabad a separate province,” he said, adding that work was under way on a new governance model.
Debate over new provinces gains momentum
The issue was reignited in late July when Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called for the creation of additional administrative units or provinces, arguing that Pakistan’s existing governance structure had failed to adequately address administrative and development challenges.
Naqvi has since defended the proposal, saying the question should ultimately be decided by the people and arguing that smaller units could improve governance while preserving the cultural identities of existing regions.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal subsequently proposed creating as many as 15 new provinces or establishing around 160 fully empowered district governments.
Iqbal argued that the existing federal and provincial governance structure had failed to produce adequate improvements in social indicators.
The debate has since expanded beyond the creation of provinces, with politicians, economists and governance experts discussing stronger local governments, greater fiscal devolution and broader administrative restructuring as possible alternatives or complementary reforms.
A national debate organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in August brought together representatives of the PML-N, PPP, PTI, MQM-P, JI and JUI-F, along with policymakers, technocrats and civil society representatives.
Participants differed over the need for new provinces but broadly discussed the need to decentralise political, administrative and financial authority and improve public service delivery.
South Punjab, Bahawalpur and Hazara demands
Among the most prominent existing demands for new provinces are South Punjab, Bahawalpur and Hazara.
The demand for a separate South Punjab province has remained on the political agenda for years.
The National Assembly passed a resolution in May 2012 calling for the creation of a province to be known as Janoobi Punjab and urged the Punjab Assembly to initiate the constitutional process under Article 239(4).
In 2019, the PML-N introduced a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly seeking the creation of South Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces.
The proposed South Punjab province was to comprise the Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions, while Bahawalpur province was to comprise the existing Bahawalpur division.
The bill also proposed changes to parliamentary and provincial representation and other constitutional provisions.
The demand for a separate Hazara province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is also longstanding. The KP Assembly passed a resolution in favour of a Hazara province in 2014, while constitutional amendment bills have subsequently been introduced in Parliament.
The issue received renewed attention last month when former federal minister Muhammad Ali Durrani said a constitutional amendment seeking restoration of Bahawalpur and creation of Hazara province would be brought before Parliament. He also referred to the longstanding demand for South Punjab.
Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party President Abdul Aleem Khan has also backed Hazara, South Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces, saying growing populations and administrative requirements necessitated additional provinces.
Sindh resists division
The debate has encountered its strongest resistance in Sindh, where the Pakistan Peoples Party has opposed any move to divide the province.
The Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on September 3 rejecting any proposal to divide Sindh or alter its territorial boundaries.
The resolution described Sindh as a historic, civilisational and constitutional entity and opposed any changes to its territorial integrity.
The PPP has maintained that any move to create a new province must follow the constitutional procedure and have broad political consensus.
PPP Parliamentarians Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said earlier this month that a constitutional amendment would be required and that the matter could not be settled through political statements or executive action.
He also questioned how resources would be redistributed through the National Finance Commission and how parliamentary representation would be adjusted if new provinces were created.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reiterated on Wednesday that the issue should be debated in Parliament rather than at business forums, saying political differences over the matter should be resolved through the parliamentary process.
MQM-P, meanwhile, has maintained its demand for additional provinces and administrative units, particularly in the context of Sindh.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal said his party had not backed away from the demand, while MQM-P leaders have called for a national dialogue among political parties to build consensus.
Constitutional hurdles
Any attempt to create a new province faces significant constitutional hurdles.
Article 239(4) of the Constitution provides that a constitutional amendment altering the limits of a province cannot be presented to the president for assent unless it has first been approved by the relevant provincial assembly by a two-thirds majority of its total membership.
This means that a proposal involving the division of Punjab, Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would require the consent of the respective provincial assembly in addition to the required majorities in Parliament.
Legal experts have also pointed out that establishing new provinces would require amendments to constitutional provisions dealing with the federation, parliamentary representation, provincial assemblies and other institutions.
Around a dozen constitutional articles could potentially require amendments, according to legal experts.
The constitutional requirement has become particularly significant in the case of Sindh following the provincial assembly’s rejection of any proposal to alter its boundaries.
New provinces or stronger local governments?
A parallel debate has emerged over whether Pakistan needs new provinces or whether governance problems could instead be addressed by strengthening the existing local government system.
Article 140-A of the Constitution requires each province to establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected local representatives.
Several political parties and experts have therefore argued that greater empowerment of local governments could address governance problems without creating additional provinces.
At an SDPI discussion in August, representatives of several major parties favoured stronger local governments over the creation of new provinces, arguing that excessive concentration of authority in provincial capitals contributed to poor service delivery.
Former Punjab chief minister Hamza Shehbaz has also argued that an empowered and continuously functioning local government system could reduce the need for creating new provinces.
He has called for the issue to be approached cautiously and resolved through detailed deliberation and political consensus.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has raised another major concern over the financial implications, arguing that the debate over provinces is closely linked to the National Finance Commission and distribution of financial resources among the federating units.
PTI calls for caution
The PTI has warned against what it considers a rushed move towards creating new provinces.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has said any decision to divide a province without the consent of its people and representatives could weaken the federation.
KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has also said the PTI would not support the creation of new provinces without consulting party founder Imran Khan.
The differing positions underline the political difficulty of translating the renewed debate into legislation.
The planned parliamentary debate in October is therefore expected to provide the first major formal forum for competing proposals, ranging from South Punjab, Bahawalpur and Hazara provinces to demands for additional administrative units and stronger local governments.
Any move from debate to the actual creation of provinces, however, would require broad political consensus and completion of the constitutional process, including approval by the relevant provincial assembly where provincial boundaries are to be altered.