Rana Sanaullah Says New Provinces Not on Agenda, Backs Current System

Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah has described Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s elections as clean and transparent, saying PML-N will form its own government in the territory.

He said AJK residents voted for PML-N based on development seen in Punjab, while accusing PPP of entering the second phase of elections with propaganda.

Sanaullah expressed confidence that PML-N would win seven of the ten seats contested in the AJK elections’ next phase, predicting PPP would accept the results once the third phase concludes. He said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari knows well that these elections were free and fair, adding that PML-N intends to form its own government in AJK rather than governing as part of a coalition.

His comments directly contradict Bilawal’s own recent public statements, in which the PPP chairman declared the elections rigged, using terms including “bullet elections” and “murderous elections,” and warned that the federal government’s “countdown has begun.” Sanaullah’s insistence on the process being free and fair, paired with his prediction that PPP will ultimately accept the results, suggests PML-N is treating the rigging allegations as political posturing rather than a substantive dispute likely to affect the final outcome.

Asked about new provinces, Sanaullah said PML-N has held no meeting adopting a clear position on the matter, and that the issue isn’t currently on the party’s agenda. He said there is no deficiency in Pakistan’s parliamentary democratic system or the 1973 Constitution, noting that this same system has held the country together for the past 50 to 60 years despite numerous challenges, including periods of martial law and military rule, with the constitution keeping the country and federation intact throughout.

Sanaullah argued the shortcoming lies not with the system itself but with those who have failed to implement it faithfully, saying that if the constitution and system are followed with sincerity, they will deliver results — but questioned how the system could function if it’s violated and treated as something to be constrained rather than upheld. He said this same system and constitution has succeeded for half a century and will continue succeeding going forward.

The new provinces question has periodically resurfaced in Pakistani political discourse, particularly regarding proposals to divide larger provinces like Punjab or Sindh into smaller administrative units, though such proposals have historically faced significant political resistance given the complex ethnic, linguistic, and resource-sharing considerations involved in any provincial boundary changes. Sanaullah’s firm dismissal suggests PML-N leadership currently sees no political benefit in reopening this debate, particularly while managing the more immediate AJK election dispute with its coalition partner PPP.

Whether Sanaullah’s confident prediction about the AJK election’s third phase and PPP’s eventual acceptance of results proves accurate will become clearer as remaining constituencies report results, while his broader defense of the existing constitutional system reflects PML-N’s consistent institutional position against structural changes to Pakistan’s federal governance framework.