What happened
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) announced plans to open a grand national dialogue with all political parties on the creation of new provinces and administrative units, arguing that population growth, weak governance and the concentration of political power had made further devolution necessary. The announcement was made at a press conference in Karachi led by MQM-P chairman Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and reported on Monday, 17 August 2026.
“There is a need for a major national dialogue, and we are going to initiate it,” Siddiqui said, according to Pakistan Today. He said Pakistan had a population of about 25-30 million at the time of its creation in 1947 compared with roughly 250 million today, yet still had only four provinces.
The proposals
Siddiqui said the party would approach all political forces to build consensus on creating provinces on the basis of population, and would make new administrative units and implementation of Article 140-A of the Constitution the centrepiece of its future demands. Article 140-A requires provinces to establish local governments and to devolve political, administrative and financial authority to elected local representatives.
He said MQM-P would approach the Supreme Court again to seek implementation of Article 140-A, and noted that the party had introduced a constitutional amendment bill on the creation of provinces in the National Assembly, which had been referred to a standing committee.
Federal Health Minister and MQM-P leader Mustafa Kamal said the proposed administrative units were “not against Sindhis” but for them. He said Karachi accounts for 38 per cent of Sindh’s population and Hyderabad 5 per cent, and argued that a new arrangement would let the cities elect governments able to address failures in water supply, sewage and waste management.
MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said existing divisions including Larkana, Sukkur and Mirpur Khas could be converted into administrative units run by their residents. Describing Karachi as the country’s economic capital, he said the plan was an administrative division of resources and powers rather than territory.
The reaction
Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah rejected the demand, saying it reflected MQM-P’s political isolation and helplessness. “Sindh will not be divided, but I certainly see the Muttahida being divided,” he said, according to Pakistan Today. He said MQM-P’s leadership was neither elected by Karachi’s people nor representative of the city’s interests.
Why it matters
The push revives a long-running dispute over Pakistan’s administrative structure and the implementation of local government under Article 140-A, and it puts MQM-P, which holds the federal health portfolio, at odds with the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government. The party said it would keep its political mobilisation focused on new administrative units and Article 140-A.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details and quoted remarks are as carried by the cited source, which was reviewed on 17 August 2026.
- Pakistan Today — "MQM-P launches push for new provinces, vows national dialogue"17 August 2026 · The Karachi press conference, the Article 140-A plan, the constitutional amendment bill, the proposals by Kamal and Sattar, and Nasir Hussain Shah's response.
