Asif backs the Khawaja Asif 12 provinces idea — with a firm condition
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has publicly backed the idea of creating up to 12 provinces in Pakistan, saying the country could have a dozen administrative units if the exercise is driven by administrative needs rather than language, ethnicity or political interests.
Speaking to Geo News in Sialkot on Sunday, Asif said the proposal to create new provinces had been debated for the past two months, with views coming in from different parts of the country. “If there is a proposal for 12 provinces, then make it 12, but they should not be created on the basis of language, ethnicity or political interests,” he said.
His intervention is the most senior public backing yet for a redrawing of Pakistan’s administrative map. The idea was first put forward by his cabinet colleague, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, and has since drawn support — and sharp criticism — from across the political spectrum.
Why smaller units, in Asif’s view
Asif argued that Pakistan’s growing population made smaller administrative units necessary, because the current system was no longer delivering services effectively at the local level. Decision-making should not be confined to the provincial capitals — Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar — he said, and powers needed to be transferred to smaller units closer to the people.
The minister also questioned how federal money is distributed, insisting that funds provided by the federal government remained largely under the control of provincial administrations instead of reaching local government institutions, which continued to depend on the provinces for both funds and authority.
Asif urged political leaders to change their attitude towards the exercise of power, saying that as politicians there was a temptation to exercise all the power themselves. Public representatives must remember that their authority was entrusted to them by the people, he added. The Khawaja Asif 12 provinces case, in short, is that smaller units would bring government closer to the people it serves.
The warning — and the lessons from history
Asif was careful to frame his support as administrative, not political. He warned against carving out new units on linguistic, ethnic or political lines, and pointed to Pakistan’s own history to make the point, recalling the One Unit scheme, under which the provinces of West Pakistan were merged into a single administrative unit before the arrangement was eventually abolished.
He also pointed to Afghanistan, where the number of provinces grew from around eight or 10 to more than 30.
The Khawaja Asif 12 provinces position is therefore not a blank cheque for redrawing the map. It is support for a specific kind of reorganisation: smaller, service-focused units created for administrative reasons, with powers and resources pushed down to the local level rather than held in provincial capitals.
What the reported Khawaja Asif 12 provinces plan looks like
Asif’s remarks come amid reports of a plan to divide Pakistan into 12 provinces through a possible 28th Constitutional Amendment, with a nationwide referendum also being contemplated before the amendment is moved.
Media reports have suggested that the proposed restructuring could involve dividing Punjab into four provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into three each, and Sindh into two. According to those reports, the amendment could be considered in the first half of 2027, with preparatory steps potentially beginning in the first quarter of the year.
The proposal remains under consideration, however, and no final decision has been taken on boundaries, structures or the constitutional process; no draft law has been tabled, and the federal government has not formally moved the 28th Amendment.
Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal has separately proposed 12 to 15 provinces, along with around 160 empowered district governments, arguing that it is not administratively possible to govern the whole of Sindh from Karachi, Punjab from Lahore, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Peshawar and Balochistan from Quetta.
MQM-P renews its demand
Meanwhile, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Sunday renewed its demand for the creation of new administrative units in Sindh, saying devolution of powers and resources to the grassroots level was essential.
The resolve was expressed at a meeting chaired by MQM-P Convener and Federal Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at the party’s Bahadurabad headquarters in Karachi. The meeting discussed urban Sindh’s long-standing grievances and preparations for the upcoming local government elections, in which the party is eyeing what it called a “historic win”.
Dr Siddiqui said ending the deprivation of urban Sindh, establishing new administrative units and winning the local government elections were among the party’s foremost priorities. The party’s demand landed on the same day as the Khawaja Asif 12 provinces remarks, adding fresh momentum to a debate that is now being pressed from several directions at once.
What happens next for the Khawaja Asif 12 provinces debate
The Khawaja Asif 12 provinces debate is now firmly in the open, with two federal ministers backing the idea in different forms and a major Karachi-based party renewing its own long-standing demand. But the path from speeches to law remains long and uncertain.
No final decision has been taken, no boundaries have been agreed, and the constitutional process — including any referendum and the required parliamentary majorities — has not begun. Whether the proposal moves from discussion to a concrete plan will become clear in the coming months.
For background on how the proposal first emerged, including the reported referendum plan and the suggested provincial breakdown, read our earlier report on the 12-provinces proposal and the possible 28th Amendment.
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