Ahsan Iqbal New Provinces Plan Calls for Urgent National Debate

Ahsan Iqbal – (Staff Reporter/Web Desk) – Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has stirred fresh talk about Ahsan Iqbal new provinces plan, calling on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to form a committee that studies Pakistan’s administrative setup. He wants the law minister to lead this panel and open a wider national conversation on the idea.

Iqbal says any move like this needs strong political agreement first. He told a local paper that real change cannot happen without broad support from across the country’s parties.

He also mentioned he is waiting for the prime minister to return from a trip abroad before raising the topic with him directly. This shows the plan is still in its early stages.

The idea is not brand new. Talk about splitting up Pakistan’s provinces has come back again after top officials, including the interior minister and a senior military spokesperson, spoke about the need for change in recent weeks.

Iqbal believes the four existing provinces have grown too large and too centralized. He feels this has hurt basic services like health care and schools for everyday people.

He suggested each current province could split into three smaller ones. But he warned this must be done fairly, so no region loses its fair share of seats in the Senate.

Not everyone agrees with him though. A key aide to the prime minister said no formal decision has been made yet at the federal level. He added that no committee even exists right now to study this.

Reaction has been strongest in Sindh, where local parties have held near-daily protests since mid-August. Many there see the plan as a threat to their province’s identity and unity.

Experts remain split too. Some believe smaller provinces could bring government closer to the people. Others warn it might just shift power to unelected groups instead of solving real problems.

Money is another big hurdle. Pakistan is already dealing with heavy debt and a tight budget. Building new provincial governments from scratch would cost a lot and take years to set up properly.

For now, the debate continues without any clear next step. Much depends on how the prime minister responds once he returns and whether other parties agree to even discuss the idea.