Any referendum on new provinces in Pakistan would require parliamentary approval and could not be called by the government on its own, a senior aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday, as debate intensifies over restructuring the country’s decades-old administrative system.
Rana Sanaullah, Sharif’s adviser on political affairs, made the remarks at a televised news conference in Lahore, following repeated calls by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for a reset of Pakistan’s administrative structure through the creation of new provinces. Naqvi had said last week that any such restructuring should ultimately be decided by the people rather than imposed by a government or political party.
Why Parliamentary Approval Is Required
Sanaullah said that even the question of how the public’s will would be determined on new provinces would itself have to pass through parliament before a referendum could proceed. He stated that the decision on whether people want new provinces or not can only be made in parliament, adding that whatever parliament ultimately decides would be accepted by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parties.
He pointed to Article 48(6) of the constitution, which requires that any proposal for a referendum on new provinces in Pakistan be approved at a joint sitting of parliament before it can go ahead. According to Sanaullah, the government cannot hold a referendum purely on its own decision, underlining that parliamentary approval remains a constitutional precondition rather than a political preference.
Sanaullah further noted that the question of creating new provinces has so far neither been formally discussed by the federal cabinet nor taken up in the National Assembly or Senate, and that the PML-N has yet to finalize its own position on the matter.
Parliament Set to Debate the Issue in October
Sanaullah’s comments came two days after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the National Assembly and Senate would debate the creation of new provinces when they convene in October, describing parliament as the appropriate forum for the discussion. That timeline suggests that any referendum on new provinces in Pakistan is unlikely to move forward before lawmakers have had the chance to weigh in directly.
The broader debate gained momentum after Naqvi said in July that Pakistan’s governance system had collapsed and called for smaller administrative units to bring government closer to citizens. He renewed that call last week, arguing that the existing provincial structure had failed to keep pace with the country’s population growth and that any restructuring, including the creation of new provinces, should reflect the will of the people rather than a top-down decision.
Opposition From Sindh
The proposal for new provinces has proved particularly contentious in Sindh, where the provincial assembly this month passed a resolution opposing the creation of smaller administrative units by dividing the province. That resistance illustrates the political sensitivity surrounding any move toward new provinces in Pakistan, regardless of whether the process eventually takes the form of a parliamentary vote or a public referendum.
For now, the government’s position, as set out by Sanaullah, is clear: a referendum on new provinces in Pakistan cannot bypass parliament, and any restructuring of the country’s administrative map will depend on how the National Assembly and Senate approach the question once formal debate begins in October.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, September 13th, 2026
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