Fazl Urges Political Consensus as New Provinces Debate Intensifies

LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has called for political consultation before Pakistan moves toward creating new provinces or administrative units, placing his party firmly inside a rapidly expanding national debate over the country's governance structure. Speaking in Lahore, Fazl said major decisions affecting provincial arrangements should be taken after assessing prevailing political and national circumstances rather than being imposed without wider discussion.

Addressing a Khatm-e-Nabuwat conference, the JUI-F leader said his party was not opposed in principle to the creation of additional provinces or administrative units. He stressed, however, that political parties would have to play a central role in any such process and that the timing, circumstances and potential consequences of restructuring should be carefully considered before decisions are made.

The remarks come as the question of creating new provinces has moved to the centre of Pakistan's political conversation. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi previously argued that the country's existing governance structure required fundamental reform and suggested that additional administrative units could improve administration and development. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has also advocated a national discussion, floating the possibility of increasing the number of provinces while simultaneously strengthening district-level governments.

Fazl criticised the country's major political parties for what he portrayed as an uneven response to the debate. He said the Pakistan Peoples Party was concentrating primarily on concerns involving Sindh, while he accused the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of remaining insufficiently clear on the wider issue. His intervention adds another influential political voice to a dispute that has already generated strong reactions from parties concerned about provincial identity, territorial integrity and the distribution of authority.

The JUI-F chief also connected the administrative debate with broader questions about national cohesion. He argued that Pakistan had struggled to overcome linguistic and political divisions and said peace, public security and respect for citizens were essential to building a stronger state. Fazl maintained that political arrangements imposed without public and political acceptance could deepen existing divisions instead of resolving governance problems.

Fazl further criticised Pakistan's dependence on external borrowing, arguing that reliance on international financial institutions had given outside lenders significant influence over economic policymaking. He linked economic independence with political stability and said the country's poor should be given greater dignity and protection from policies shaped primarily by powerful elites. His remarks broadened the discussion beyond provincial boundaries to questions of economic sovereignty and the distribution of political power.

The debate over new provinces is expected to continue across parliament and political parties, but no single restructuring formula has yet secured national consensus. Proposals currently under discussion range from creating additional provinces to devolving greater authority to districts and local governments within the existing provincial structure. Fazl's latest position indicates that JUI-F would demand consultation and political agreement before supporting any major change, adding further pressure on the government and other parties to define how any future administrative reform would be negotiated and implemented.