The President House on Friday rejected media reports that President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussed the creation of new provinces during their meeting in Nawabshah a day earlier, saying the talks focused on national security and the regional situation.
In a statement, the President House said the reports suggesting that provincial matters were discussed during the meeting were incorrect. “Matters concerning national security and the regional situation were discussed during the meeting. However, no discussion took place on matters related to provinces,” the statement said.
The clarification came after several media reports claimed that the president and the interior minister had discussed the possibility of creating new provinces during their meeting at Zardari House in Nawabshah on Thursday night. No official handout had been issued following the meeting, which fuelled speculation about what was discussed.
Naqvi had travelled to Nawabshah on a special aircraft for the meeting, which reportedly lasted nearly an hour. He flew in hours after publicly calling for a referendum on the creation of new provinces, saying surveys and public discussion appeared to indicate support for the idea and that the people should formally settle the question.
The debate over creating new provinces as part of a broader restructuring of the system gained momentum on July 31, when Naqvi called for additional administrative units or provinces to overhaul what he described as the country’s outdated governance system. The proposal has since drawn sharply divided reactions from political parties.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, which the president belongs to, has opposed any division of Sindh, while other parties have either backed a referendum or called for the matter to be decided through parliament. A referendum alone cannot create a province under the Constitution, and any change would require a constitutional amendment passed by parliament.
The President House statement gave no further details of the discussion on national security and the regional situation, and it did not mention the referendum proposal. The meeting had taken place against the backdrop of the interior minister’s renewed push for a public vote on new administrative units, which he has argued would improve governance and bring administration closer to the people.
Officials familiar with the meeting had earlier told reporters that the two leaders discussed matters of mutual interest, but the absence of an official statement after the talks led to conflicting accounts in the media about whether the provinces issue came up. Friday’s clarification put the presidency’s position on record, stating plainly that no discussion relating to provinces took place.
