ISLAMABAD: A senior member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has urged the body to reconvene and hold a detailed deliberation on the contentious proposal to create new provinces, arguing that, as the representative body of the country’s legal fraternity, the council must give the issue thorough consideration.

In a two-page letter add­ressed to PBC Vice Chair­man Pir Ma­­s­o­­od Chishty, Advocate Salahuddin Ahmed recalled on Mon­day that, on Aug 7, 2026, the PBC had adopted a re­­solution emphasising that if new provinces were considered necessary, they must only be created thro­ugh the constitutional me­­chanism and after achieving national consensus. The resolution had also annou­nced a seminar inviting all political parties to develop a national consensus aimed at strengthening the federation and improving governance.

Ahmed said the is­­sue had recently re-entered the national debate follo­wing a speech by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi regarding the necessity of creating new administrative units. The proposal was effectively endor­sed the very next day during a press briefing by Inter-Services Public Relations.

“That speaks volumes about the origins of the proposal,” the letter said, adding that he was subsequently surprised by a flurry of statements from some prominent members of the Bar in support of the proposal.

It was also endorsed by SCBA Presi­d­ent Haroonur Rashid in his spe­ech during a reference held for a re­­tiring Supreme Court judge.

“With utmost respect,” the aut­­hor said, “I do not believe the majority of lawyers of Pakistan support this proposal, let alone harbour any desire to start a movement for it.”

Moreover, he saw no reason why the Bar should play any role in initiating a national “debate” or building “consensus” on the issue. “Let those who have formulated this proposal assume the responsibility of doing so,” the letter said.

Both the proposal and the motives of those behind it were suspect, Ahmed emphasised, adding that, for years, the same voices now advocating more pro­vinces had contended that Pak­istan’s greatest administrative problem was the excessive allocation of powers and resources to the provinces following the 18th Amendment and the 7th NFC Award.

“Now, suddenly, they assure us the greatest administrative difficulty is that there are too few provinces,” Ahmed said, adding that he did not understand how they could argue for the benefits of greater centralisation and greater decentralisation in the same breath.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2026