Khawaja Asif: New Year May Bring New Political SystemPakistan

He said the creation of new provinces or administrative units would be a positive step for Pakistan and could bring major changes to the country’s political landscape.

The minister expressed hope that some form of the new system would emerge before the end of 2026, adding that around six weeks remained in the year.

Asif said all four provincial leaderships should be taken on board, whether or not their parties were currently represented in parliament, and that political concerns could be resolved through talks and mutual understanding.

He stressed that the process was based on political agreement, not pressure, and that no one needed to fear losing their political position because of a new administrative structure.

The defence minister also clarified that the military establishment had never asked him to discuss the creation of new provinces.

Talking about recent political meetings, he referred to President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his subsequent meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, saying such meetings were part of efforts to build agreement on important national issues.

He said decisions taken during closed-door meetings were not made public until an agreement was reached, and that Pakistan had seen several constitutional experiments in the past, but such efforts to develop political consensus had not been made before.

He also mentioned the efforts of President Zardari, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and other political leaders to find a solution.

The defence minister said the expected political changes could also give jailed PTI founder Imran Khan an opportunity to return to mainstream politics, and advised Khan not to oppose the process, saying an agreement on the issue could open the door for his political comeback.

He said repeatedly making one person the centre of every political issue was not a healthy way to do politics, adding that politics was about finding possible solutions through talks and cooperation.

Khawaja Asif has also previously supported creating new provinces on administrative grounds, saying even 12 provinces could be considered.

The debate over new provinces has been building for weeks. The News reported on 8 November that a plan under consideration would increase Pakistan’s provinces from four to 12, possibly with a nationwide referendum before a 28th Constitutional Amendment, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi proposed a referendum on 12 November.

The Presidency said on 14 November that no discussion took place on matters related to provinces in the president’s meetings, and no draft bill on new provinces has been made public so far.