Austin Ranney in The Government of Men has aptly said, “Local government is an invaluable socio-political laboratory for testing on a small scale various new proposals for government organisation and social and economic policies. Local failure can be borne with far less social cost than that of the national government, and local successes can and often do serve as models that the national government can follow with minimum risk.”
Local Government (LG) institutions are inherently blessings for the common people. They are primarily local democratic institutions — they are regarded as the cradles of democracy. Democratic values take their roots at the bottom level of the governmental structure. These are indispensible for the political education of a society as they enable the common people to acquaint themselves with the basics of politics. The importance of LG institutions cannot be overlooked because these inculcate a sense of responsibility in the minds and hearts of the people. This makes them public spirited. The participation of citizens in local affairs imparts the necessary training that enables them to shoulder responsibility at higher levels later in their careers and lives.
The gap between people and public officials promotes an artificial distance that deteriorates the government’s image. Decentralisation of authority is the natural corollary of LG. It is, therefore, the source to eradicate the pitfalls of representative democracy by bridging the communication gap between the government and the local people. However, local democratic institutions in our beloved Pakistan are considered to be a curse on account of different reasons.
These institutions will break the dynastic political propensities in our society. The leadership will emerge from the streets of society rather than importing it from foreign countries or imposing it upon the people from the few traditional monopolistic families in our society. These institutions will force the undemocratic political parties to hold elections at the grassroots level to bring themselves in line with democratic values. These institutions will help to finally nurture charismatic, far-sighted, talented, competent and decisive leadership, and will help to solve the leadership crisis prevalent in Pakistan for the last many decades. These institutions will ensure political-electoral accountability at the grassroots level for the undemocratic political parties.
Democracy in Pakistan is a buzzword. It is a mess. It is a tool of exploitation of the sentiments and innocence of the rank and file. It is a tool employed for the change of faces but with the same anti-Pakistan and anti-Pakistani policies. Pakistan is one of those unfortunate states where democracy has not been given a chance either by the military generals or by the pseudo-democratic forces.
Ironically, provincial governments are hesitant to take concrete steps to ensure the implementation of these constitutional provisions. Their initiatives are half-hearted and untidy. The Chief Justice of Pakistan is a role model for these so-called democratic forces because this honourable Chief Justice once took oath under a military dictator of Pakistan. Later, when he was ousted, he realised his professional blunder and stood against that dictator like a stumbling block. This step gained the momentum of a ‘black coat revolution’ and ultimately became the political death of that arrogant dictator. The political leaders were also meted out the same fate but still they are not paying heed to democracy and are choosing to ignore the past. Pakistan is weeping and imploring for help because it does not want to be made into a laboratory for more experimentation. It cannot afford these experimentations. Our politicians need to ensure local democracy at the grassroots level so as to make Pakistan strong.
The writer is a lecturer of Political Science at Islamia College, Peshawar and can be reached at [email protected]