By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the premier’s home in Lahore on Saturday, two days after the interior minister’s call for a referendum on new provinces reopened a row that has divided their coalition since July.
Zardari, who is in the city mainly for a family wedding, called on Sharif at his Model Town residence, where the prime minister welcomed him. His sister, Faryal Talpur, president of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) women’s wing, was already in Lahore. Local reports said the talks lasted more than an hour.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said the two men discussed the country’s political, economic and security situation. It said the prime minister briefed the president on his recent trip to Turkey for the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31), where he presented Pakistan’s efforts on climate action.
They also discussed cooperation among allied parties, continued consultations and progress on public welfare projects, the statement said, and reaffirmed their commitment to working together on economic stability and development. It did not mention new provinces.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, the prime minister’s adviser Rana Sanaullah and MNA Hamza Shehbaz were also present.
The meeting followed a week in which the argument returned to the centre of politics. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi proposed on Thursday a referendum on new provinces, which he called the “solution” to the debate. “Everyone talks about democracy, so there should be a referendum on the issue of provinces,” he told reporters in Lahore. He said surveys showed most people favoured new provinces, though he did not identify the surveys or give figures. He said he would stand “100 per cent” with the people if they rejected the idea.
Naqvi then flew to Nawabshah on a special aircraft that night and met the President at Zardari House for about an hour. He was received at the airport by Sindh ministers and local officials, driven to the residence under tight security, and returned to Islamabad afterwards. No official account of the meeting was issued at the time.
Unnamed sources said he had travelled urgently with a message from a senior national figure, and that new provinces and a referendum were discussed. Some reports said the talks also touched on possible action against the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl. The President’s House did not address that claim.
On Friday the President’s House issued its first formal account and rejected the reports. “There is no truth to media reports suggesting that matters concerning the provinces were discussed during the interior minister’s meeting with the president,” it said. It said national security and the regional situation were discussed, and that “no discussion took place on matters related to provinces”.
The referendum idea has found support within sections of the PML-N. Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan recently raised the constitutional question of whether elected representatives could override the people’s verdict in a referendum.
The PPP governs Sindh and is a coalition ally of the PML-N at the Centre. It has strongly opposed any move to divide the province. Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said last month that the discussion on creating new administrative units “must stop”, because the Sindh Assembly had already given its verdict. He added that the federal government had not approached the party over the proposed 28th amendment. Zardari’s Nawabshah meeting with Naqvi had drawn attention for that reason, although the President’s House said it had been about security.
The current debate began at the end of July. Speaking at the Pakistan Economic Summit 2026 in Islamabad on 31 July, Naqvi called for additional administrative units or provinces as part of an overhaul of what he described as an outdated system of governance. He said the existing model had “collapsed” after decades of failing to deliver, and argued that decentralisation was essential to better public services, timely justice and opportunities for young people.
The response was mixed. Several PML-N leaders criticised him as a beneficiary of the system he was condemning, among them Sanaullah, who asked how Naqvi could attack a system that had carried him to the interior ministry. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif broke with his colleagues and said he largely agreed with the assessment. He accepted that Sindh had the right to its own position but said any final decision must come through consensus, and suggested Islamabad could be a starting point for administrative restructuring. Asif spoke of creating 12 more provinces.
The row was fiercest in Sindh. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah rejected the claim that the system had collapsed, called the proposal outdated and warned that no bloodshed would be allowed over the creation of new provinces.
In August the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, a federal coalition member that sits in opposition in Sindh, backed new provinces and called for a national dialogue. It argued that population growth, poor governance and concentrated political power made greater devolution necessary. That put it at odds with the PPP. Its leader, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, has repeatedly advocated carving new provinces out of Sindh and had floated the idea before Naqvi spoke.
The PPP maintained that administrative reform and the division of Sindh were separate questions. Sindh minister Nasir Hussain Shah said the provincial government was willing to discuss better governance and devolution, but not as a route to a new province.
On 4 September the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting any attempt to divide the province or alter its territorial limits. It described Sindh as a “historic, civilisational and constitutional entity” and declared that “Sindh is one and shall remain one”. Shah said there would be “no compromise on Sindh’s geographical unity”. The PPP also called on Sharif to restrain his ministers from making statements on the subject.
Naqvi renewed his call for a “reset” and said he would keep backing new provinces whether or not he remained in office. He argued that the decision belonged to the people rather than politicians or governments, who should first be told the “pros and cons”. Bhutto-Zardari had earlier said the issue belonged in parliament rather than at business forums.
PTI’s Barrister Gohar Ali Khan warned on 7 September that dividing Sindh or any other province without the consent of its people and representatives would weaken the federation. He called for a commission and extensive deliberation before the matter reached parliament.
Legal experts have pointed out that a public vote alone cannot create a province. Any change to provincial boundaries must follow the constitutional amendment procedure, including approval by the relevant provincial assembly. Article 239(4) requires a two-thirds majority in the assembly of the province concerned.
Article 48(6) allows a matter of national importance to be put to a referendum after approval by a joint sitting of Parliament. A referendum could give such a move democratic legitimacy, but it would not replace the constitutional requirements.
The argument therefore reaches beyond administrative restructuring. It raises questions about how power is shared between the federation, the provinces and local governments, and what role citizens should have in decisions on governance.
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