A proposal to redraw Pakistan's administrative map from four provinces into 12 is under consideration, with a nationwide referendum envisaged before any move towards a possible 28th Constitutional Amendment, according to reports published on Sunday.

Under the arrangement described by sources familiar with the proposal, Punjab would be divided into four provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan into three each, and Sindh into two, taking the total from four to 12. Preparatory steps could begin in the first quarter of 2027, with the amendment possibly taken up in the first half of the year. The referendum would come first, to gauge public opinion.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif publicly backed the idea in an interview with Geo News in Sialkot on Sunday, saying discussions on new provinces had been going on for about two months. “If there is a proposal for 12 provinces, then make it 12, but they should not be created on the basis of language, ethnicity or political interests,” he said, adding that the divisions should be drawn on administrative grounds.

The proposal remains at the consideration stage. No final decision has been taken on boundaries, administrative structures or the constitutional process, and the plan sits uneasily with the government's own recent statements: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on 30 October that the government was not drafting a 28th Amendment to create new provinces. The prime minister's Adviser on Political Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, has said any referendum would need Parliament's approval.

Constitutional hurdles are high: Article 239(4) requires two-thirds approval in any affected provincial assembly as well as two-thirds majorities in both houses of Parliament, while Article 48(6) allows a referendum only after parliamentary steps. For now, the plan is a proposal under discussion, not approved policy and not a tabled amendment. The News first reported the referendum plan.