LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has called for the public to have the decisive say on creating new administrative units in Pakistan, as debate over restructuring the country’s provinces gathers political momentum.
Naqvi said any reorganisation should be undertaken to improve governance rather than along ethnic lines and argued that the existing administrative system required a “reset”. He stressed that such a reset meant correcting weaknesses in the system rather than dismantling it.
The interior minister also backed the idea of making Islamabad a separate province, while saying the advantages and disadvantages of creating additional administrative units should be openly debated before decisions were taken.
His comments come amid an increasingly contentious discussion involving the PML-N, PPP and other political parties. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has described greater devolution as inevitable and suggested Pakistan’s existing administrative divisions could provide one possible framework for restructuring governance.
The PPP has reacted cautiously to the emerging proposals, insisting that the creation of new provinces must follow constitutional procedures and have the consent of the provinces concerned. Party leaders have been particularly emphatic in opposing any division of Sindh.
Naqvi said his earlier warnings about weaknesses in Pakistan’s administrative structure had not been directed against any particular political party and maintained that any eventual changes should reflect the wishes of the population.