A heated debate goes on about creating more provinces with those who oppose this move treating it not as an administrative matter but a political one that has more to it than just some administrative changes.
Everyone has their own opinion on this, and at times things become rather emotional as each other’s opinion is challenged. I decided to have a global look at the question of more provinces so that we can form our judgments without becoming emotional and learn about this phenomenon from history.
The first thing I have learned about making new provinces is that this is not something unique which is only happening in Pakistan but is a global phenomenon. I don’t know about you, but I was surprised to find out that every country that started as a federation or a large unitary state has added provinces, states and regions as population grew.
Let me give you some examples. Let us look at our neighbour India which had nine major provinces at Independence that increased to 14 provinces by 1950, and today it has 28 states and eight union territories.
Nigeria is another example which had three to four regions at the time of independence in 1960 which increased to 12 than 19 and now has 36 states. Let us not forget Indonesia which had eight provinces in 1945 and now has 38 provinces.
The father of all examples - the one that we all try to emulate - the good old USA had only 13 states at its creation and now has 50 states. Another interesting example is the Philippines which created 30 new provinces on cultural and linguistic grounds.
Yes there has been opposition to this in the countries concerned, but the matter has finally been settled through dialogue though in some countries it has led to violence. It is also a question of how simple or how complicated is the process for making new provinces. Surprisingly the simplest method for creating a new province is found in India.
Under article 3 of the Indian constitution their parliament can form a new state by separating territory from any state, unite two or more states, increase or decrease the area of any state and alter the name of boundaries of any state.
You see how simple it is, but there is more to it than meets the eye. No bill for creating a new state can be introduced in parliament without the recommendation of the president of India.
The president sends the bill to the legislature of the state concerned and the state assembly is given a certain time period to give its view, but this is actually an exercise in futility as this opinion is not binding on parliament. The bill after completing these formalities is presented in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and passed by simple majority.
Even in this crucial matter a two-third majority is not required. After parliament passes it the president signs it and the deed is done. So the federal parliament is really the supreme authority in such matters and the involvement of president or any other body is just ceremonial including the consent of the president. How does this get to the parliament in the first place is also interesting.
Usually there is a grassroots movement that grows and the seeds of a new province or territory are sown as happened in certain cases in India. In Pakistan it is a whole new ball game which can only get rolling if the provincial assembly of the province concerned must first consent, and the bill for this must pass with 2/3rd majority.
So the idea can expire even before it blooms as has happened recently. This is not the only hurdle but even if it passes the first one it has still to pass in the federal parliament and senate and yes you guessed it right with a two-third majority in both Houses.
The consent of the president in India is not mandatory, and he or she has to follow the instructions of the parliament. In Pakistan we have seen bills that have been held back at the presidency, and it will be interesting to see what happens if a bill of this nature some day awaits the consent of the president.
The question of new provinces is not dead as still there are politicians with great political influence who are openly favouring the idea and condemning the present state of affairs. Only time will tell whether there will be more provinces, or this movement will die down, and Pakistan will have to concentrate on other ideas for a successful political pathway that successfully addresses the challenges that it faces today.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
The writer is a well-known columnist