- Naqvi says consensus essential for creating new provinces.
- Says public opinion should guide any alternative solution.
- Interior minister vows zero tolerance for those blackmailing girls.
LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said the “best solution” on the issue of new provinces is to seek public opinion, adding that all political parties’ views are necessary.
“If the people say new provinces should not be created, then I am with the people,” Naqvi said while talking to the media at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Lahore.
He said everyone has their own stance on new provinces, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has its own position as well. “If there is any other best solution besides this, we should go to the people for that too,” he added.
Naqvi said all parties, including the PPP and the PML-N, are important for the government. “The PML-N and all of us are together,” he said, adding that nothing would be decided through disagreement. “If everyone agrees, everything will happen.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the PPP strongly opposes the creation of new provinces in Sindh, the stronghold of the Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led party.
Addressing a ceremony in Larkana on Monday, Bilawal had called for a “political reset” rather than new provinces amid prevailing economic hardships in the country.
Earlier, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had backed the creation of new provinces in Pakistan, saying even 12 could be considered, provided they are established on administrative rather than ethnic or political grounds.
Speaking to Geo News in Sialkot on Sunday, the defence minister said the proposal to create new provinces had been under discussion for the past two months, with opinions emerging from across the country.
Proposal for 12 provinces
The remarks come amid reports that a proposal to reorganise Pakistan into 12 provinces is under consideration, with a nationwide referendum envisaged ahead of a possible 28th Constitutional Amendment.
According to a report published in The News, the proposed arrangement could see Punjab divided into four provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into three each, and Sindh into two.
Sources familiar with the proposal said the amendment could be considered in the first half of 2027, with preparatory steps potentially beginning in the first quarter.
However, the proposal remains under consideration, and no final decision has been taken regarding provincial boundaries, administrative structures or the constitutional process.
The proposed restructuring is aimed at improving governance, decentralising administrative authority and ensuring a more equitable distribution of development resources across the country.
Zero tolerance
The interior minister said the NCCIA’s complaint cell is being moved onto the Pak ID platform. He said he would brief the prime minister on the agency’s resources next week.
He said the NCCIA took timely action against suspects who blackmailed girls and arrested them within a few hours. “There is zero tolerance for those who blackmail girls,” he said.
Naqvi said women are the target in most online fraud cases. He said the NCCIA has only 61 personnel in Punjab, and the staff will be increased. Shortages in all zones, including Lahore, will also be addressed.
“It is our responsibility to eradicate corruption from the country,” Naqvi said. He said action had been taken against corrupt elements in the interior ministry. “People should point them out, and we will take action against corrupt people,” he said.
Referring to land in Islamabad, he said it had been occupied with a ruthlessness that has no parallel anywhere in the world.
Asked by a journalist about the PTI founder and his family, Naqvi said rumours had been circulating for a day or two about what might happen. “These rumours make a good story for two or three days, that’s all,” he said.
“Whatever is their legal right, and whatever they get from the court, they will get,” he said. “Everything else remains the same, and there is no difference.”
