Daily Times

The Sindh Local Government (LG) Ordinance lapsed at midnight on Friday, leading to the end once again of the LG system and bringing back the commissionerate system, however unintentional it may have been. Apparently the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have not been able to come up with a new local bodies system that would satisfy both coalition partners. The old LG system was promulgated by General Musharraf’s government in order to strengthen himself by creating a new loyal class of local elected representatives. It was reminiscent of General Ayub Khan’s local bodies system. There is no doubt that devolution of power, particularly at the grassroots level, is an integral part of a democratic system but military dictators have always manipulated it to benefit themselves. The MQM supported Musharraf’s LG system as it also gave them a free hand in urban Sindh but the PPP cadre was annoyed with it. When the PPP government abolished the LG system and the commissionerate system was imposed on Sindh, the MQM left the coalition government in protest. Bringing back a colonial commissionerate system was not the answer to these problems. The need of the hour is to undo General Musharraf’s legacy by bringing in a reformed LG system.

Unfortunately, more confusion ensued in Sindh regarding the LG system when PPP’s Sindh minister Pir Mazharul Haq said that a new LG Ordinance would be introduced after Eid. What he failed to answer was which administrative system is in place for the time being in the province. It seems as if nobody is willing to answer this question despite the fact that technically the commissionerate system is back in place. The PPP is in a bind: on the one hand the party has to think of its Sindhi constituency that is against Musharraf’s LG system and on the other it has to keep its coalition partner, the MQM, happy. It is important for both the PPP and the MQM to realise that they must come to a consensus on a new LG Ordinance as soon as possible. Otherwise, there is a risk of another conflict in the province. *