IN July 2026, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told the Pakistan Economic Summit in Islamabad that the governance system the country has operated under for decades has effectively collapsed. He warned that without structural change, Pakistan would still be debating the same problems a decade from now, and urged political parties to sit together and settle the question of new administrative units, whatever they end up being called, rather than leave it unresolved indefinitely. The statement, coming from a minister closely tied to the establishment, was read by many observers as more than a personal opinion; it amplified a long-standing establishment view that Pakistan’s four provinces have become too large to govern effectively.

The numbers back the diagnosis. Pakistan runs a federal government, four provinces, 169 districts and thousands of local bodies, yet the tier closest to citizens is........

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