With the restoration of commissionerate system in Sindh, the last of the ramparts of the fort erected by former military ruler, General Musharraf, in the name of devolution of power has fallen down. Following his seizure of power in 1999, Musharraf had presented to the nation a seven-point agenda, which also included a scheme for the devolution of power, decentralisation of authority and diffusion of functions at the grassroots level to ensure, as it was then claimed, participation of the local people in the decision making process and provision of services at the doorstep of the people. But the plan envisaging a new system of local government became embroiled in severe controversy right from the moment it was announced in March 2000 due to a variety of reasons.
First, it amounted to a serious infringement of provincial autonomy as the local government was a provincial government. Most of the political parties, therefore, perceived it as an attempt by the federal government to undermine provincial autonomy and bypass the provincial governments with the objective of creating a separate constituency for Musharraf. These apprehensions came true when almost all district nazims in the country sided with Musharraf during the judicial crisis triggered by the dismissal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry by him in 2007. The Devolution Of Power Plan was a violation of the basic structure, i.e. federalism of Pakistan’s political system as it had sought to transform the local government institutions into the third tier of government, whereas the concept and principles of federalism as they have evolved in the subcontinent during the last more than 100 years and enshrined in the 1973 Constitution recognise only two tiers of government — the federal and provincial. It was precisely for this reason that all mainstream political parties, including the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had vowed to scrap this system once they came to power.
Secondly, the basic flaw in Musharraf’s plan was the combination of political and administrative authority in the hands of district nazim (mayor), who emerged as a new local lord, taking administrative measures on political considerations, thus seriously compromising the impartiality of administrative actions. During the nation-wide debate on the plan, a number of senior bureaucrats and constitutional experts had warned against the merger of local government functions with the powers of district administration. The result was that both suffered; but the paralysis of district administration under the new system cost the nation heavily as no one accepted the responsibility for discharging the basic function of the government — maintenance of law and order. Although 10 years have passed since the system was launched, no rules of business have been finalised. As a consequence nobody in the so-called ‘district governments’ knew his or her area of jurisdiction.
Thirdly, absolute power corrupts absolutely. This well-known dictum could very correctly be applied to Musharraf’s system of local government under which the office of district nazim became the centre of arbitrariness and corruption. A large number of district nazims were charged with indulging in corruption and misappropriation of public funds. As a consequence, public disaffection with the system grew in the country. The moment Musharraf departed from the national scene, a process of rollback set in. In Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, magistracy system has already been revived and restored as an indispensable mechanism for ensuring law and order in the face of rising violence relating to sectarianism and acts of terrorism.
Fourthly, the transformation of local government institutions into district government created a serious row between the district governments and public representatives — members of National Assembly (MNAs) and members of provincial assemblies (MPAs) over the areas of their respective jurisdiction. The members of provincial and national legislative bodies accused the district nazims of trespassing on their areas by undertaking development works in their constituencies, thus depriving them of an important leverage of political support. The issue of defining the respective areas of jurisdiction of the district nazims and public representatives became so critical that in 2004 a committee headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was formed to resolve it. The committee held a number of meetings but it was never able to finalise its recommendations, leaving the district nazims and members of legislative bodies at loggerheads.
Finally, the Devolution of Power Plan as well as Police Act of 2002 were promulgated without a national consensus. General Musharraf had enforced this system arbitrarily and unilaterally. It did not therefore enjoy popular support, except in those quarters whose vested interests were closely linked with it. The MQM, for example, had been its staunchest supporter because the scheme enabled it to function free from the control of provincial government dominated by the PPP. In Sindh, particularly in Karachi and Hyderabad, the biggest urban centres of the province, the establishment of new local bodies system under the Devolution of Power Plan gave birth to a new tug-of-war between the provincial government and district governments, the latter trying to wrest control of the areas that had traditionally been the preserves of the former.
The restoration of commissionerate system in Sindh is in line with similar decisions already taken by other provinces to put in place a system under which responsibility for ensuring security and for maintenance of law and order could be fixed. Now the deputy commissioner would be responsible for maintaining law and order and the police would work under him. So far as the district governments are concerned, they would be able to function as institutions of local government, devoting their attention and resources to developmental works through participatory processes.
The writer is a professor of International Relations at Sargodha University. He can be reached at [email protected]