28th amendment before New Year, PM aide Huzaifa Rehman says; PPP has not yet seen the draft

The 28th constitutional amendment will be brought to parliament before the New Year, Huzaifa Rehman, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, said on Saturday night, though he allowed that it could slip by "a week or 10 days". Speaking on ARY News's programme The Reporters, he called the amendment inevitable and said work on the draft had made significant progress, with some details still open, ARY News reported.

The same day in Karachi, Sindh minister Saeed Ghani said the Pakistan Peoples Party, the government's main coalition partner, had not yet received a draft, Business Recorder reported.

What each side said

Huzaifa Rehman (PML-N government):

• The amendment will be introduced before the New Year, with a possible delay of a week to 10 days.
• The debate on new provinces "has not formally begun", so it cannot be concluded yet.
• Public opinion on new provinces should be tested through parliament and a referendum; if parliament is unwilling, a referendum could be the route.
• He warned that if new provinces are not created through this amendment, they never will be.

He was replying to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who has called for an end to the talk of new provinces.

Saeed Ghani (PPP, Sindh Labour and Human Resources Minister):

• The PPP has not seen the draft and will study its provisions before deciding.
• If the amendment strengthens democracy and the economy, "the PPP will certainly support it."
• He spoke at the Karachi Expo Centre, where he opened the Pakistan First Furniture Trade Show.

Why the PPP matters

A constitutional amendment needs a two-thirds majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate. The government cannot reach that without the PPP's votes, which is why the PPP's position on the draft, and on new provinces in particular, will decide whether the timetable holds. Sindh's ruling party has long opposed any division of Sindh.

What we do not know yet

Neither side has published the draft, and neither report sets out what the amendment will contain beyond the provinces question. We will update this story when the text is tabled or shared with the coalition partners.

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