- Asif says 18th Amendment established devolution but poorly implemented.
- “PPP backs Saraiki province but invokes Sindhudesh over wider restructuring.”
- Minister stresses “we are Pakistanis, first and last” as he calls for devolution.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of a “double standard” on new provinces, saying it backs a Saraiki province in Punjab but raises the Sindhudesh issue when broader administrative restructuring is discussed.
Asif, in an X post, said the PPP supported or showed a “soft corner” for the demand for a Saraiki province whenever the issue was raised in Punjab.
“But when there is talk of multiple provinces or administrative units instead of four, the talk of Sindhudesh begins,” he said, adding that he believed there was “something else” behind what he described as the PPP’s contradictory position.
Asif said he would explain what he believed was behind the policy “at some point”, while stressing that “we are Pakistanis, first and last”.
The defence minister also called for genuine implementation of devolution under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, saying the principle had been established constitutionally but had not been respected in practice.
He said the current system had become outdated because of the concentration of powers and argued that authority needed to be transferred to lower levels so democracy could take root at the grassroots and people could benefit from it.
Asif said Pakistan could use its existing 36 divisions as the basis for a new administrative arrangement or develop another geographical structure, arguing that the devolution of power was “inevitable”.
His comments come amid a renewed political debate over whether Pakistan needs additional provinces or administrative units.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi revived the issue in July by arguing that the existing governance system had “collapsed” and calling for administrative restructuring.
The PPP has firmly opposed the creation of new provinces, while other political figures have backed various forms of administrative restructuring.
The debate has also focused on whether creating new provinces is the best way to improve governance or whether greater powers should instead be devolved to local governments.
Asif himself has previously argued that the 18th Amendment failed to achieve meaningful devolution to the grassroots.
In January, he described it as a “hollow slogan” because powers had largely been transferred from the federal government to provincial governments rather than being devolved further to local authorities.
