No region, province targeted in restructuring debate: official

• Debate on administrative system at early stage: official.
• Calls for debate to be focused on interests of people.
• PML-N to do whatever is in Pakistan’s interest: official.

ISLAMABAD: The ongoing debate over the creation of new provinces and administrative units is not aimed at targeting any particular province or region, a key government official said on Sunday, stressing that the basic objective of the exercise was to improve governance and make the state’s administrative system more responsive to the people.

Talking to The Newson condition of anonymity, the senior official said there was, as yet, no final decision on whether Pakistan needed more provinces, new administrative units or greater devolution of powers to the district and local-government levels.

“There is no intention to target any particular province or any particular region,” the official said, adding that the basic question was whether improvements could be made in the existing administrative system to deliver better governance and tangible benefits to ordinary citizens.

The official said the debate was still at an early stage and it would be premature to suggest that the government had already settled on a particular model. “Whether there will be new provinces, administrative units or devolution to the district and local levels is a matter that has yet to be determined,” the official said.

According to the official, the central consideration in any future restructuring would be whether it improved governance and produced visible benefits for the common citizen.

The remarks assume significance amid growing political debate over the need for more provinces or smaller administrative units, with federal ministers and political leaders increasingly discussing the issue.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has recently advocated taking the question to the people, saying that any major restructuring should ultimately reflect the will of the public. His remarks have triggered a wider discussion about the possible creation of new provinces, administrative units and the constitutional mechanism through which such changes could be undertaken.

The senior official said the immediate objective was not to decide the number or boundaries of new provinces but to initiate a serious national discussion and build consensus on whether the existing administrative structure was delivering adequately.

He said the debate should focus on the interests of the people rather than political or regional considerations. The official’s comments also suggest that the government has not yet formally committed itself to any particular idea.

The distinction is important because the creation of provinces would involve constitutional questions, including the procedure prescribed for changes affecting provincial boundaries, whereas administrative restructuring and devolution of powers could take different forms without necessarily altering the country’s constitutional map.

Asked specifically about the position of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government on the issue, the official said the party would support whatever course was ultimately considered to be in the national interest.

“The PML-N will do whatever is in the interest of Pakistan,” he said when asked about the likely position of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

The official did not, however, offer any indication of whether the PML-N leadership had already developed a consensus on the question of new provinces or administrative units. Asked what role President Asif Ali Zardari was likely to play in the debate, the official declined to speculate and said, “You should ask Asif Ali Zardari.”

Originally published in The News