ISLAMABAD: Any referendum on creating new provinces in Pakistan would require approval from parliament and could not be called by the government on its own, a senior aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday, as debate intensifies over restructuring the country’s decades-old administrative system.

The comments by Rana Sanaullah, Sharif’s adviser on political affairs, follow repeated calls by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for a “reset” of Pakistan’s administrative structure, including through the creation of new units. Naqvi said last week any such restructuring should ultimately be decided by the people rather than imposed by a government or political party.

Sanaullah said the question of how the public’s will would be determined would itself have to go through parliament.

“The decision on whether the people want it [new provinces] or not can only be made in parliament,” he said at a televised news conference in Lahore.

“And the decision that will be made in the Parliament will be accepted by the PML-N and other parties,” he continued, referring to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and other parliamentary parties.

Sanaullah said the issue had so far neither been formally discussed by the federal cabinet nor taken up in the National Assembly or Senate, and that the PML-N had yet to finalize its position.

He pointed out that even if the government decided that a referendum should be held, Article 48(6) of the constitution required the proposal to be approved at a joint sitting of parliament before it could go ahead.

“The government cannot hold a referendum with its own decision,” he said.

Sanaullah’s remarks come two days after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the National Assembly and Senate would debate the creation of new provinces when they convene in October, describing parliament as the appropriate forum for the discussion.

The debate gained momentum after Naqvi said in July that Pakistan’s governance system had “collapsed” and called for smaller administrative units to bring government closer to citizens. He renewed the call last week, saying the existing structure had failed to keep pace with the country’s population and that any restructuring should reflect the will of the people.

The proposal has proved particularly contentious in Sindh, where the provincial assembly this month passed a resolution opposing the creation of smaller administrative units by dividing the province.