Let the people decide on new provinces, Naqvi says

Mohsin Naqvi says neither a political party nor a government’s reservations should decide the future of Pakistan’s administrative map. The interior minister insists that the question of creating smaller units must ultimately go to the people.

Speaking at a National Policy Dialogue at a private university in Lahore, Naqvi argued that his proposal had been misunderstood. He said it was not directed against the current government and did not signal a new political arrangement. Nor, he added, would resetting the system mean dismantling it overnight.

Naqvi said any changes would remain within the Constitution. Smaller units could preserve existing cultural identities, he said, with possible names including South Sindh and North Sindh, as well as comparable divisions in Punjab and other provinces.

The minister said the proposal should first be examined on practical grounds. Pakistan would need to decide whether it wanted 15, 19, 20, 25 or 30 units, determine their size and assess the fiscal consequences. Once officials produced a workable plan, he said, it should be put before the public.

Naqvi also criticized political parties for supporting more districts, divisions and tehsils while resisting new administrative units because they did not want to lose power. He linked the debate to wider governance failures, citing 25 million children out of school, malnutrition affecting four in 10 children, limited access to clean water for 55 percent of the population and a large backlog of court cases. He said the strength of provincial capitals reflected where rulers lived, rather than the performance of other cities.

Responding to criticism from the PPP and the PPP-led Sindh government, Naqvi said he would not abandon the proposal even if it cost him his ministry. He also invoked Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s warnings about provincialism and groupism.