Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi proposed a referendum on new provinces on Thursday, saying he would accept the result. But the answer came a day earlier. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Wednesday that even after a referendum, the final decision would rest with the provincial assemblies, because no referendum can override the Constitution. With Sindh’s assembly unanimous against division, the 12-province map under discussion is already an 11-province map. Hours later, Naqvi flew to Nawabshah for an hour-long meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.
What Naqvi proposed on Thursday
Naqvi told reporters at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency in Lahore that seeking public opinion was the “best solution” to the new provinces issue. “If the people say new provinces should not be created, then I am with the people,” he said. “The people are supreme.” He said surveys showed people demanding new provinces, but named none. He said every party had its own stance, and nothing would be decided through disagreement.
Naqvi set off the debate earlier this year by saying the “system” had collapsed. On Monday, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called in Larkana for a “political reset” instead. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had already backed twelve provinces on Sunday.
The answer that came a day early
Murad Ali Shah spoke to reporters in Thatta on Wednesday after an urs at Makli. He said the PPP had no objection to new provinces elsewhere, but Sindh would not be divided. Dividing Sindh was “neither legally nor politically acceptable”, he said, because the people had rejected it through their representatives. “Constitutionally, the boundaries of a province cannot be altered unless its people want such a change,” he said. He noted the Punjab Assembly had already passed resolutions calling for new provinces. “If Punjab wants new provinces, we have no objection,” he said.
Then came the sentence that answers the proposal before it was made: even after a referendum, the final decision would rest with the assemblies, as no referendum could override the Constitution.
Twelve minus one is eleven
The map reported by The News splits Punjab into four provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into three each, and Sindh into two, taking the country from four to 12. Take Sindh’s second unit out, and the plan is 11.
That is how the Constitution works. Article 239(4) says an amendment that alters a province’s limits cannot go to the president for assent unless the affected provincial assembly has first passed it by at least two-thirds of its total membership. A referendum asks the whole country one question; the Constitution asks each affected assembly separately. A national yes would still leave the Sindh Assembly’s vote outstanding, and it has already voted no.
On 3 September, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting all attempts to divide Sindh or create new provinces there. Moved by PPP leader Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, it followed earlier resolutions against division in 1948, 2000, 2014 and 2019. PakMirror mapped the seven gates the 28th Amendment must pass, and the first does not exist yet: Pakistan has no referendum law for a civilian government, and the only two referendums, in 1984 and 2002, were ordered by military rulers. No bill, date or question exists yet.
The late-night meeting
Hours later, Naqvi flew unannounced to Nawabshah and met President Zardari at Zardari House for nearly an hour. Reports said they discussed the provinces proposal, the referendum and a possible 28th Amendment. It also covered the PTI founder’s meeting with his lawyers and the release of his sisters Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan, freed from Kot Lakhpat Jail on Thursday. No details emerged about any decision.
The timing is the message: the minister who proposed asking the people went the same night to the man whose party holds the Sindh gate. The PPP governs Sindh, and the government needs its votes in Parliament too: an amendment needs two-thirds majorities in both houses.
What is still undecided
No final decision has been taken on boundaries, structures or process. Sources told The News the amendment could be considered in the first half of 2027. Geo News and Minute Mirror report that even if the amendments pass next year, the new structure would take effect only after the 2029 elections. Three questions are still unsettled: how the National Finance Commission Award, which shares federal money, would be rewritten for 12 recipients; how the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord, which shares Indus water, would be divided; and how provincial debts would be split.
Three tests will tell if this is a roadmap or another round of debate: a referendum bill in Parliament, a final PPP position on Sindh, and preparatory steps early in 2027. Until then: 11 provinces, one referendum, zero gates passed. More national news from Pakistan follows the debate.
