Pakistan Should Strengthen Local Governance First, Says Dawn Opinion Writer, Before Creating New Provinces to Address Governance Weaknesses.

Dawn published an opinion article on August 9 2026 written by a practicing lawyer based in Lahore, stating that Pakistan’s governance issues are mainly institutional, not geographic. The writer refers to Article 140A of the Constitution, which requires provincial assemblies to establish local governments and to transfer political, administrative and financial powers to elected local representatives. He notes that local governments have frequently been weakened, dissolved or denied financial autonomy, while development funds and decision‑making power remain concentrated at the provincial level, creating a distortion of constitutional intent. The author warns that creating new provinces would likely duplicate existing problems but incur higher administrative and financial costs, as a new province needs a high court, a provincial secretariat, police administration, regulatory bodies, specialised departments, and thousands of public servants. He adds that many regions proposed for new provinces are mainly agricultural and industrially underdeveloped; without a diversified economy they could stay dependent on federal transfers. The article concludes that before any redrawing of provincial boundaries, Pakistan should first strengthen the implementation of the current local government framework and conduct rigorous fiscal analysis to determine whether the expected governance benefits justify the substantial administrative and economic burdens.