New provinces debate: Bilawal says it is time for a 'full stop', Sindh has decided

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Tuesday, 27 October, that the debate on creating new provinces should end, because the people of Sindh and their elected representatives have already decided against it.

"Now we should put a full stop to this conversation," he told reporters at Spencer Eye Hospital in Karachi's Lyari, standing beside Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Dawn reported. "I think we should close this topic because the people themselves have closed it."

What Bilawal said

• The Sindh Assembly has stated its position on the issue seven or eight times.
• Only the people of Sindh can decide the fate of the province and of Karachi.
• Asked whether the government had approached him about a proposed 28th Constitutional Amendment, he said: "No."
• He asked the federal government to pay attention to Karachi, the country's economic hub, in the dispute between the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and Pakistan Railways.

Why the provinces question is back

In July, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi proposed talks among all parties on governance reforms, including new provinces and administrative units. The PPP sent the idea to its top decision-making body, CM Murad rejected it outright, and Sindhi nationalist groups demanded Naqvi's resignation.

Since then, several parties have backed more provinces or administrative units. The MQM-P, an ally in the PML-N-led federal coalition, wants Karachi made a separate province. The PPP, which governs Sindh and is also part of the federal coalition, opposes that.

In September the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution rejecting any attempt to divide the province or create new administrative units, with Murad saying there would be "no compromise on Sindh's geographical unity".

What happens next

Creating a province needs a constitutional amendment passed by two-thirds of both houses of Parliament and, under Article 239(4), the approval of the affected province's assembly by a two-thirds majority. With the Sindh Assembly on record against division, a Karachi province cannot be created without its consent.