Pakistan’s push for new provinces sparks debate, experts warn of deeper crisis ahead

Pakistan is once again at the centre of a major administrative debate, as the federal government signals a renewed push to create smaller provinces decades after the country’s historic split in 1971. 

The discussion intensified after Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan declared that new provinces will “definitely be created”, arguing that smaller units would improve governance and service delivery.

The proposal comes at a volatile time, with rising independence sentiments in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and growing political pressure on the hybrid regime led by Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. 

Khan suggested dividing Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and KP into three provinces each, pointing to neighbouring countries with multiple smaller administrative units.

However, experts warn that this move may deepen the country’s crisis rather than solve it. Veteran bureaucrat Syed Akhtar Ali Shah argues that Pakistan’s core problems lie in weak institutions, uneven law enforcement, and poor local governance not in the size of provinces. 
Think tank president Ahmed Bilal Mehboob echoed that past restructuring only intensified grievances and would be expensive and politically risky.

They insist that strengthening local governments and enforcing the rule of law must take priority.

As Pakistan pushes ahead with the idea of new provinces, concerns grow that division without reform could worsen existing fault lines.