ISLAMABAD — Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal on Friday said that the creation of new, smaller provinces wasn't anyone's wish but "Pakistan's need," adding that the creation of new provinces had "become indispensable to save and run the state." The remarks came a day after Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said that Parliament and the provincial assemblies could not be "bypassed or negated" on the question of making new provinces through a referendum to determine the public will. Chaudhry made the remarks in the wake of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi's renewed call for a referendum on the creation of new provinces, saying the people should have the final say on the matter, while making it clear that no such initiative would move forward without the consent of all allied parties in the ruling coalition.
Speaking at the inauguration of a regional office of the Allied Health Professionals Council in Karachi, Kamal noted that Punjab was a bigger province than 180 countries of the world, Sindh was bigger than 175 countries, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) bigger than 162 and Balochistan bigger than 185.
Further updates will follow as additional official statements and developments emerge across the pakistan sector.