ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Two ministers from the ruling coalition have said a referendum alone cannot create new provinces, pushing back on Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s call to let a public vote settle the question.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said on Friday that Parliament and the provincial assemblies could not be “bypassed or negated” on the issue. Speaking on a private television programme, he said the PML-N believed new provinces needed a “national consensus”, which could only come through the involvement and agreement of all political parties.
“The role of the provincial assemblies cannot be bypassed and negated. This is not appropriate,” he said, adding that the Constitution set out a method that gave the assemblies a role. “Even if you want to bypass the role of the Parliament and provincial assemblies in this matter, then there should be a method for that as well. It cannot happen simply through verbal statements.”
Chaudhry said Parliament, where every party is represented, was the right forum to build that consensus, and he invited the PTI to set aside political differences and join the debate. If a referendum did show public support for new provinces, he said, lawmakers would weigh the will of the majority because they were the people’s representatives. He also said the PML-N leadership had not yet formally discussed the matter.
In Karachi, Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the PPP’s position on the division of Sindh was clear. President Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had made it plain that Sindh’s future would be decided by the will of its people, he told reporters at an Expo 2026 event at ABAD House.
Shah said the Constitution laid down a clear procedure, under which a bill to create a new province had to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the provincial assembly concerned. “Merely calling for a referendum would not lead to the creation of a new province,” he said.
He dismissed speculation linking a recent meeting between Zardari and Naqvi to the division of Sindh, saying the two had personal ties and the meeting had nothing to do with provinces or any political matter. Naqvi had flown to Nawabshah for hour-long talks with Zardari on Thursday night.
Naqvi has said a referendum is the best way to settle the question and that the people should have the final say, though he added that no such move would go ahead without the consent of all the allied parties in the coalition.
Changing the boundaries of a province requires a constitutional amendment. Under Article 239, such a bill cannot become law unless the assembly of the province concerned also passes it by at least two-thirds of its total membership. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has backed as many as 12 provinces, though not on ethnic or language lines.
