Daily Times

Local Government is the most fascinating word in our political lexicon. It indeed is supposed to brings order to the lives of our people of rural and non-urban areas and gives the society equal opportunity at the grass root level to partake in expending public finances on projects of construction and development of their own local needs instead of looking up to the Federal or Provincial governments for help. The concept is too good to recount its multiple benefits in this small space which are normally expected to accrue to the society in educating rural masses to know their rights and responsibilities towards their community. But to reap its full benefits there are many requirements which must precede before the society can earn its full benefits.

The most sordid aspect of our democracy is that we have totally ignored Art. 140-A of the Constitution which enjoins all Provincial governments to establish Local Government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility to the elected representatives of the local governments. Except in the Sindh province, we have placed the Local Government system on the back burner in all other provinces on one pretext or the other and have even flouted the Superior Courts orders issued from to time to restore local government as per law and constitution. The governments of the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan have wriggled out of these mandatory provisions on one pretext or the other. This is the worst example of flouting Constitution and the orders of the Superior courts with impunity. Ironically PTI government since its inception is embroiled in intractable matters of state by inheriting a very bad economy. Its primary aim is therefore to remove the initial hurdles and to stand on a firm footing. At this juncture when local government matters, because of their intricate and complex legal issues, are still pending in the courts in the three provinces and unless the courts decide those matters no immediate attention could be paid to the proper implementation of the local government. But government’s preoccupation in other greater federal issues is no hurdle in giving it its special attention to the whole hearted implementation of local government system. If the government becomes quite serious in implementing the Local Government system it can do so without wasting any further time by getting a consensus of all stake-holders and introducing appropriate amendments. But for the present, local government does not constitute its priority. Hence there appears to be little likelihood of local government system being fully and properly installed in the country.

Six years after the ratification of 18th Amendment, provincial governments in Pakistan remain reluctant to transfer significant powers, responsibilities and resources to local governments

One major reason for our failure to enforce an effective Local Government system is that this system has been anathema to the political and bureaucratic elites in Pakistan. Added to that is a corrupt mafia at the third tier of the government. In the past, in addition to this, we had to face intervention by the military dictators who used it only to serve their own limited interests, including securing a sense of legitimacy for their otherwise unconstitutional rule.

Before Imran Khan became Prime Minister, he was a strong supporter of local system. On May 5, 2019, he said: “Our government’s Number One priority is to hand over governance to the people”. Even his Election manifesto declared: “We will transform Pakistan by devolving power and decision-making to the people through an empowered local government (system).” But prior to elections of 2018, the PTI was heading two provincial governments: Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Balochistan is also an ally of the PTI government at the Centre. Yet the local government systems in all three provinces are currently dysfunctional owing to various reasons. In Punjab, in May last year, a new Act, known as The Punjab Local Government Act 2019 was passed by the Provincial assembly, which due to some controversial provisions has been challenged by the opposition parties and the matter is pending in the court. In KP assembly, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has changed its plan of holding local government elections for tehsil and village and neighbourhood councils in two phases and instead decided to hold polls for both the tiers together, for which that Assembly amended LB laws, which are near implementation stage.

Six years after the ratification of 18th Amendment, provincial governments in Pakistan remain reluctant to transfer significant powers, responsibilities and resources to the local governments. After the 18th amendment, Pakistan has moved towards provincial autonomy by reducing the prospect of an authoritarian or excessively centralised government. The amendment introduced changes to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan and redefined its contours from highly centralised to a largely decentralised federation. Through this new constitutional framework, Pakistan has laid the foundation of a multi-tier governance system by transferring greater authority, resources and responsibilities related to many public and social services to the federating units including Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.

The 18th Amendment has divided the prerogatives of Pakistan’s multi-tier governance at the federal, inter-provincial and provincial levels by reviewing the Federal Legislative List Part I and Part II and repealing Concurrent Legislative List. Further restructuring of functions at the district, tehsil and union council levels has been devolved to the regional governments in accordance with the policy framework articulated in Article 140 (A) of the Constitution. Thus in accordance with the 18th Amendment, 17 ministries including education, social welfare and special education, health, environment, culture, minority affairs, youth affairs, women’s development, sports, zakat and usher, population welfare, labour and manpower, tourism, mining, and local government and rural development have been abolished at federal level and devolved to regional governments.

If the PTI government remains steadfast to the strong promises it made for the uplift of local government by devolving more and more fiscal powers (by creation of Provincial Finance Commission, as has been envisaged in The Punjab Local Government Act 2019) to the elected representatives and giving an unprecedented budget allocation of 30 to 40 percent to local councils, it would indeed be a big leap forward.

But alas, things appear dazzling on paper, but in actual implementation, much of their magic fizzles out.

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of Moments in Silence