The real question is not simply how many provinces Pakistan needs, but whether its political system can make smaller units more accountable, representative and effective.
By Luv Puri
September 09, 2026
The debate over creating new provinces has returned to Pakistan’s political agenda. Supporters argue that a country of more than 240 million people cannot be effectively governed through only four provinces, particularly when Punjab alone has a population larger than many countries. They believe smaller federating units could improve administration, bring government closer to citizens and provide neglected regions with greater political representation.
The argument has particular resonance in areas where demands for separate provincial status have existed for decades. South Punjab, Bahawalpur and the Hazara region are frequently mentioned in discussions about new provinces. Similar debates have emerged around the administrative and political representation of other regions.
Yet Pakistan’s provincial question is more complicated than drawing new boundaries on a map.
Provincial identity in Pakistan is closely connected with language, culture, history and political power. Any attempt to redraw provincial boundaries therefore raises difficult questions about representation, resources and identity. A new province may improve administrative access for one community while creating new concerns among another. The challenge is to ensure that restructuring strengthens the federation rather than producing new political grievances.
There is also a constitutional obstacle. Altering the boundaries of an existing province requires a constitutional amendment. Under Article 239(4) of Pakistan’s Constitution, an amendment affecting the limits of a province cannot be presented to the president for assent unless it has been approved by at least two-thirds of the total membership of the assembly of the province concerned. A constitutional amendment must also secure the required two-thirds support in both houses of Parliament.
This makes the creation of new provinces fundamentally a political question. No major restructuring can take place without broad agreement among political parties and substantial support within the province whose boundaries would be changed.
The financial implications are equally important.
Pakistan’s federal system distributes significant resources through the National Finance Commission. Creating additional provinces would require reconsideration of how federal revenues are shared among federating units. New provincial governments would also require assemblies, secretariats, administrative departments and other institutions. Unless carefully designed, creating smaller provinces could simply reproduce existing bureaucratic structures at additional cost.
Supporters respond that this criticism overlooks the potential benefits of bringing decision-making closer to citizens. Smaller provinces could make provincial administrations easier to access and allow governments to focus more closely on regional development priorities. Areas far from provincial capitals often complain that political influence, public investment and administrative attention remain concentrated around established centres of power.
But smaller provinces do not automatically produce better governance.
A poorly governed large province can simply become several poorly governed smaller provinces. If political patronage, weak institutions, excessive bureaucratic control and limited accountability remain unchanged, altering provincial boundaries may redistribute political offices without substantially improving citizens’ lives.
This is why the debate over new provinces cannot be separated from the question of local government.
Many services that directly affect citizens—including municipal administration, sanitation, local infrastructure and community development—are better addressed through effective local institutions. Pakistan’s Constitution requires provinces under Article 140A to establish local government systems and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected local representatives.
Yet local governments have historically remained one of the weakest components of Pakistan’s governance structure. Provincial governments have often been reluctant to transfer meaningful authority and financial resources downward. Consequently, demands for new provinces sometimes reflect not only a desire for new federating units but also frustration with the excessive concentration of power in provincial capitals.
Creating additional provinces while leaving local government weak could therefore address only part of the problem.
There is another important dimension: representation within the federation. New provinces would alter political representation in national institutions, particularly the Senate, where provinces enjoy equal representation. The creation of additional federating units would consequently change the political balance within Pakistan’s federal structure. This is precisely why provincial restructuring cannot be treated merely as an administrative exercise.
Pakistan must therefore distinguish between administrative decentralisation and federal restructuring.
Administrative units can be created to improve service delivery without necessarily transforming them into constitutionally recognised federating units. A province, by contrast, is a political and constitutional entity with representation, legislative authority, financial claims and a defined place within the federation.
This distinction should be at the centre of the national debate.
International experience offers no universal formula for the ideal number or size of federating units. Large federations operate with very different internal structures. What matters is whether those units possess viable institutions, adequate financial resources, meaningful political representation and clearly defined constitutional authority.
Pakistan’s debate should therefore move beyond slogans about simply dividing existing provinces. Any serious proposal must answer several questions: What criteria should determine the boundaries of a new province? Should history, language, population, geography or administrative efficiency carry greater weight? How would revenues and assets be divided? What would happen to representation in Parliament? How would provincial institutions be established? And, most importantly, would citizens actually receive better government?
These questions require political negotiation rather than bureaucratic improvisation.
Pakistan has reasons to reconsider whether its existing provincial structure remains suitable for a large and increasingly urbanised population. But creating new provinces should not become another exercise in distributing political offices or building additional bureaucracies.
The objective must be deeper federalism: stronger representation at the federal level, capable provincial institutions and genuinely empowered local governments.
The success of new provinces would ultimately be measured not by how many additional lines appear on Pakistan’s map, but by whether those lines bring political power, public resources and accountable government closer to its citizens.
