September 5, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that despite the immense potential Pakistan possesses, if the system has failed to improve over 79 years, it needs to be reset. He clarified that resetting the system does not mean dismantling it, but correcting it. New provinces should certainly be created, he said, but not without the will of the people.
He expressed these views in his address at the National Policy Dialogue organized by the University of Management at UMT’s Hakeem Saeed Hall in Lahore.
Naqvi said that the matter of creating new administrative units should be left to the people themselves — if they want new provinces, they should be created; if not, they should not be. He posed the question: is there any other city in Punjab like Lahore, in Sindh like Karachi, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like Peshawar, or in Balochistan like Quetta? He noted that during his tenure as caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab, he was unable to visit the entire province, managing to cover only about 70 percent of it.
Naqvi said he is the strongest supporter of granting Islamabad provincial status, noting that Islamabad is a city that does not receive a single rupee from the federal budget. “Whether I keep my job or not, I will not back down from this position now,” he said, adding that everyone should work toward making Islamabad a province.
In his address, he clarified that his remarks about the system referred to the one that has been in place for the past 79 years.
“Despite the country having so much potential, if the system hasn’t been fixed in 79 years, it needs to be reset. Resetting doesn’t mean breaking the system — it means fixing it, and this must happen within the bounds of the constitution, through the will of the people and democratic means, not according to the wishes of any one individual, government, or political party. Provinces should be created solely on the basis of the people’s will. Whenever the conversation turns to devolving power to the grassroots level, no one is willing to accept it. Four out of every ten children in this country are not getting enough food. In 79 years, twenty-five million children are still out of school. Even today, parents are yearning for justice, education, and healthcare for their children,” he said.
Opening the event, UMT President Ibrahim Hasan Murad said the British left, but the system they built continues to run, with no meaningful change made to it since. He said the Pakistan Political Science Consortium was created as a platform to bring together people from different professions to discuss solutions to Pakistan’s problems and to promote political awareness through dialogue.
Other participants spoke at length about the creation of new provinces and the challenges facing Pakistan over the past 79 years, along with possible solutions. Speakers agreed that fixing the country’s problems requires governing strictly according to the constitution, identifying and correcting flaws within the system wherever they exist, and that politicians must understand that good governance is good politics. They also stressed that resolving these issues requires all stakeholders to sit together and engage in dialogue, since the constitution already contains solutions to every problem.
Senior journalist Hamid Mir said it is true that the country still operates under a colonial-style system, but asked who introduced Section 144, under which anyone can be arrested. “In our country, arrests happen first and trials come later,” he said, adding that the Chief Election Commissioner remains in office despite having completed his term. Mir said Pakistan does need new provinces, but the system will only improve once the constitution is implemented. He pointed out that the demand for new provinces was not first raised by Mohsin Naqvi, but by Ahsan Iqbal in June 2026, and that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has passed a resolution for a Hazara province four separate times. He argued that Islamabad should be made a province, since the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has effectively become a “state within a state,” and noted that Sindh had recruited 1,561 teachers who had not even passed their matriculation exams.
PML-N leader and former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said, “The white Englishman left, but the black Englishman stayed behind.” He said the country is still being told that creating more provinces is the cure-all, but the real intent behind such proposals is questionable, adding that no prime minister in Pakistan’s history has been allowed to complete his term with dignity. “We are a nuclear state, but our conduct resembles that of a banana republic,” he said, arguing that political parties have descended into personality cults around their leaders. Those who demand democracy for the country, he said, do not practice democracy within their own parties. Nothing will change, he concluded, until the constitution is implemented in letter and spirit.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that fixing the country’s problems requires governing according to the constitution, with the military, judiciary, and bureaucracy all operating strictly within their constitutional limits. He said creating smaller provinces alone will not solve the country’s problems, and that if the overall system is failing, the greatest failure lies at the provincial level, where governance is often conducted like a monarchy — whatever the ruler says becomes law. He added that the local government system has been designed in such a way that it simply cannot function.
Senior journalist Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami recalled that the constitution drafted in 1954 was abrogated even before it could be enforced, and that several subsequent constitutions met the same fate. He described Pakistan’s constitutional history as “a long and troubled story,” noting that the country inherited its bureaucracy and military as institutions, and remarking that Pakistan may be the only democracy in the world where merely electing members of an assembly has been equated with democracy itself.
Federal Minister Aoun Chaudhry said that while he himself is part of the current system, reforming it has now become essential. He said it is important to identify exactly where the flaws and shortcomings in the system lie, and that he supports the creation of more administrative units. He also noted that 60 percent of the country’s population consists of young people who need to be given opportunities to move forward.
Senior journalist Fahd Hussain said that 28 percent of children in Pakistan are out of school, the second-highest such rate in the world. He noted that the country spends only about one percent of GDP on health and two percent on education, and that even after 79 years, the nation is still debating how to fix its governance.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan said such dialogue is extremely necessary, especially within universities, calling its occurrence a welcome development. He said administrative authority should rest with elected public representatives, and while past mistakes are acknowledged, the real challenge lies in correcting them.
Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former Punjab Governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mahmood said politicians must understand that good governance is good politics, and that political leaders need to be visionary. New provinces should be created, he said, but leaders themselves must live modestly — driving small cars like the Corolla — so that resources and facilities can reach the people instead.
Federal Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain said politicians are currently limited to rhetoric, while the real stakeholders — those who best understand the problems — are not being engaged in the conversation. He said opponents of new provinces should be asked to explain their reasoning, arguing that new provinces would reduce problems and improve administration. He suggested that every division in the country should be granted the status of a province.
Pakistan Kisan Ittehad President Khalid Khokhar said that if the system worked properly, every Pakistani would have access to justice.
He called it shameful that an agricultural country like Pakistan has to import wheat, noting that today’s farmers are in dire straits, unable even to afford their children’s weddings. He said agriculture’s share of the national budget had fallen from 35 percent to roughly 12 percent, calling it unjust that farmers are denied their due. “It’s not that 50 percent of students have failed,” he said, “it’s the system that has failed.”
Muttahida Qaumi Movement Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that “half the truth is a complete lie.” He said it was encouraging that such a critical debate was taking place under a democratic government rather than under a dictatorship. He argued that constitutional provisions benefiting the elite are enforced, while those meant to benefit ordinary citizens are ignored.
In Pakistan, he said, “the ruling class” has become the name of a specific segment of society, while those representing the public are often disconnected from the public’s actual problems.
Senior lawyer and former SCBA president Barrister Ahsan Bhoon said society needs greater dialogue, and that the constitution already provides a mechanism for amending any of its clauses. He said all stakeholders need to sit together to work out solutions to the country’s problems.
Businessman S.M. Tanveer said five million children are born in Pakistan every year, and that failing to invest in their future will inevitably lead to law-and-order problems. He noted that despite having some of the highest taxes and electricity prices in the region, no one is held accountable and no one is willing to take responsibility. He said the region Pakistan is part of is among the best in the world, yet no one seems willing to work for the country’s progress — pointing to Faisalabad, once known as the “Manchester of textiles,” which he said has since fallen into decline. Industrial development, he said, is essential if the country is to move forward.