LAHORE: Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday said that he is the biggest proponent of turning the federal capital Islamabad into a separate province, asserting that decentralizing administrative structures and creating new units is essential to improving grassroots governance.
Speaking at the National Policy Dialogue in Lahore even, Mohsin Naqvi also urged the political parties and people not to get “emotional about the issue” as this is not something that is going to happen tomorrow.
He, however, doubled down on his previous statement about the importance of new administrative units for development across the country and questioned whether provinces had cities comparable to Lahore in Punjab, Karachi in Sindh, Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Quetta in Balochistan in terms of their administrative and economic significance.
The interior minister stressed that the creation of new provinces would have to be carried out within the framework of the Constitution. He asserted that the decision should not be imposed by any government or political party, but should reflect the wishes of the people.
“If the masses want new administrative units, these should be created. Otherwise not. Why do some people feel threatened by the will of the people?”
The interior minister underscored that the people should be told about the “pros and cons” and the matter should then be forwarded to them to decide whether or not they approve the creation of new provinces.
Clarifying his earlier remarks calling for a “reset”, the interior minister said his comments were not directed at any political party or arrangement.
It is pertinent to note here that earlier in July, Naqvi had said that the current system has “collapsed” and had urged a dialogue among all political parties to bring about reforms to the current governance system, while also calling for new provinces and urgent administrative reforms.
His comments had ignited an animated debate across the country. Most recently, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution rejecting any proposal to divide the province or alter its territorial limits amid an opposition walkout.
