Pakistan’s debate over the creation of new Provinces should now move beyond a narrow regional, linguistic or political discussion and become part of a comprehensive national agenda for governance and structural reform. The central question is not simply how many Provinces Pakistan should have, but how the State can be reorganised so that government, development, public services and decision-making become more accessible, responsive and effective for every citizen.
Pakistan requires a governance reset combining appropriate provincial restructuring with meaningful decentralisation, empowered local governments, administrative reform, bureaucratic efficiency, equitable distribution of national resources, transparency, accountability and effective public service delivery. The objective should be to bring government closer to the people, reduce excessive centralisation and ensure that the benefits of the State reach communities across the country.
The will of the people should occupy a central position in this process. Article 48(6) of the Constitution provides a constitutional mechanism through which the people’s view on a matter of national importance may be sought through a referendum. Under this provision, the President may, on the advice of the Prime Minister and with the approval of a joint sitting of Parliament, refer a matter to the people for a “Yes” or “No” answer.
A referendum should, where constitutionally and legally appropriate, be considered at an early stage of the reform process, before Parliament proceeds to final constitutional restructuring. The Prime Minister and Parliament could consider using this constitutional mechanism to ascertain the public pulse through a carefully framed national question concerning new Provinces, stronger administrative units, meaningful decentralisation and genuinely empowered local governments.
Such a referendum could provide substantial democratic value. It would enable citizens to express their views directly on a matter of exceptional national importance and provide Parliament, political parties and policymakers with a clearer understanding of public preferences. Instead of allowing the debate to remain dominated by political assumptions, regional claims or competing institutional interests, a credible public mandate could establish the direction in which the country wishes to move.
A credible referendum could also reduce political controversy surrounding provincial restructuring by demonstrating whether there is genuine and broad-based public support. It could help distinguish sustained public demand from claims advanced primarily by political or pressure groups, facilitate wider consensus and provide political parties with clearer guidance for their manifestos and parliamentary positions. It could therefore make the subsequent constitutional process easier, more transparent and more democratically grounded.
A separate and constitutionally protected Local Government Legislative List should constitute the third list. It should cover municipal administration, local roads and streets, water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid-waste management, local transport, markets, parks, street lighting, building control, local planning and zoning, town development, local land-use regulation, local environmental management and other community functions. Local Governments should possess legislative, regulatory, administrative and financial authority over these subjects within the Constitution. Provinces should not routinely assume local functions except under narrowly defined legal circumstances and subject to judicial and financial accountability.
The three lists should operate with the constitutional principle that functions, authority and financial resources must follow the level of government assigned responsibility.
The Federation should deal with national affairs, Provinces with province-wide affairs and Local Governments with local affairs. A government should not receive a responsibility without adequate resources to discharge it. This would reduce duplication, centralisation and institutional conflict while making accountability clear to citizens.
The future structure of Provinces should be assessed on objective national criteria rather than political expediency: population, geography, administrative accessibility, economic and financial viability, infrastructure, development needs, representation, public preference and equitable resource distribution. New Provinces, however, cannot succeed without decentralisation below the provincial level. Districts, divisions, municipalities and councils must have clear responsibilities and adequate authority so citizens can obtain services without excessive bureaucracy.
The public pulse should establish direction; the Constitution should provide the framework; Parliament and political parties should provide leadership; and an independent institution should ensure implementation and continuity. Pakistan needs a new relationship between State and citizen in which government is accessible, resources are fairly distributed, local institutions are empowered and public authorities are accountable.
The reform should create a genuine constitutional compact among the three tiers. The Federation must remain strong in national matters, Provinces autonomous in province-wide affairs and Local Governments responsible for everyday community governance. Decentralisation should be measured not by offices created, but by whether authority, money and responsibility reach elected representatives closest to citizens. Constitutional guarantees, transparent elections and independent oversight should protect continuity. Direct financing, clearly divided legislative fields and fixed terms would make responsibility identifiable and prevent one tier from shifting blame to another.
The purpose is not administrative fragmentation but effective governance. New Provinces should be created only where justified, while every Province should operate within a decentralised structure in which communities possess real institutional power. Pakistan can thereby transform the debate over Provinces into democratic and administrative renewal, bringing decisions closer to citizens, services closer to communities and accountability closer to public authority.
Such a framework would strengthen national unity by making diversity administratively manageable, politically participatory and economically balanced, while ensuring that constitutional democracy produces practical improvements in the daily lives of citizens throughout Pakistan and Federation.
—The writer is Advocate
Supreme Court of Paki-stan
