New provinces debate belongs in parliament: Rana Sanaullah

Rana Sanaullah Khan, the prime minister's adviser on political affairs, told reporters in Lahore that lawmakers should be the ones to settle any move toward creating new administrative units. According to a press release, he said a referendum on new provinces would be decided in a combined session of parliament instead of through executive action. He also described peaceful political protest as a constitutional right, while warning that vandalism and violence would not be permitted.

Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has put forward two options for reorganising the administrative setup: 160 districts with empowered local governments, or 12 to 15 new provinces agreed through political consensus. He linked the proposal to a population nearing 260 million, saying the current structure was overloaded and social indicators kept deteriorating. He blamed the centralisation of powers and resources at provincial level after the 18th Amendment for weak service delivery.

Under the first option, resources would flow directly to districts through Provincial Finance Commissions, while the second would create new provinces. Ahsan Iqbal said decision-making should move closer to citizens, particularly in underdeveloped areas, and stressed that implementation and local oversight of projects mattered greatly. He argued that administrative reform should be judged by development needs rather than party interests, warning that systems unable to adapt eventually fail.