Editorial

Let local govts govern

The chief justice was entirely correct when he said that local govts should “not be mere showpieces”

Editorial January 28, 2016

PHOTO: AFP

Once again, the Supreme Court is found reminding the government of its responsibilities. It has asked what steps the federal and provincial governments have taken to empower the local bodies that were so recently elected. A very pertinent question considering the decidedly laggardly approach there was at provincial and federal levels to the whole idea of local governance, giving power as it has to those outside the political mainstream. The Court has ordered the local government secretaries in all provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory to report on the level of functionality in their respective areas — a report that is likely to be uncommonly brief. The Court took an interest in the matter after a plaintiff claimed that the appropriate powers had not been passed to local bodies as required by Article 104-A of the Constitution. The plaintiff claimed that the system looks ineffective and that in some instances individuals voted into the local bodies have taken the oath of office but not assumed the powers that should follow the oath-taking — because those that are required to delegate such powers to them have not done so.

Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali was entirely correct when he said that local governments should “not be mere showpieces” — but it appears that they may have to approach the superior courts if they are to gain the powers due to them, an indication that those with their hands on the levers of real power have little or no investment in grassroots empowerment. The reason for that is plain — local bodies are seedbeds in which germinates political change, the place where may grow a different kind of political plant that comes with an independence of mind and purpose that does not chime with the political mainstream. The very last thing that the establishment would wish for. The superior judiciary appears to be on the side of the underdog and at the very least an interesting struggle is going to develop, with the courts as both battleground and referee. In this instance, we find in favour of the underdog. Let local governance commence.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2016.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.

COMMENTS (4)

Yul47 London | 8 years ago | Reply @S.R.H. Hashmi: A well stated narrative and agree the Supreme Court be petitioned for electoral reforms that any accused whether adjudged by a Court of Law or with a wildly held perception of corrupt practic be refused. The Court has a role to play to strengthen its rather weak institution, where a meaningful judgement is found wanting against the high and mighty.

S.R.H. Hashmi | 8 years ago | Reply Yours is a very timely editorial. Peoples Party never tires of taking credit for devolving power to the provinces though I can’t help feeling it did it more because of some premonition that after the next elections, it would be confined to the province of Sindh. In any case, this could not have been through Peoples Party love for democracy, because had it been so, it would have gone all the way and took the democracy to grassroots level by making the local government really powerful. And as you say, apart from making possible service-delivery at peoples’ doorsteps, the local governments also serve as a training ground for future leadership. In fact, the Peoples Party, and PML-N for that matter, did just the reverse and by hacking down the Local Governments Act, have stripped the local bodies even of the powers that a military dictator had given them. Now, this hardly establishes Peoples Party and PML-N’s credentials as democracy-loving parties. And going a step further, these parties delayed elections even for the much-depleted local government as long as possible, and finally held them only on pressure from the Supreme Court. And even now Peoples Party is using all sorts of tricks and delaying the transfer of power. And again, on a petition having been filed, the Supreme Court has stepped in the matter. I sincerely hope that someone petitions the Supreme Court even for instituting electoral reforms or at least to ensure that the eligibility of the Assembly aspirants is vetted in an effective manner so as to ensure that downright thieves and scoundrels do not manage to sneak into the Assemblies on the strength of stay orders or taking advantage of the other weaknesses in the system which have been deliberately built into it in order to continue the rule by these Mafias and their offspring. People of Pakistan had built up great expectations from the most powerful sector in Pakistan which briefly seemed to all set to cleanse the country of corruption and other ills. However, it seems that it has down-graded its plans and has decided to derive all its thrills, excitement and entertainment and attain a sense of accomplishment by hounding the vulnerable parties like Dr. Asim Hussain, Peoples Party and MQM while leaving untouched the big sharks, with their confidence fully restored in contrast to the shaky, nervous wrecks that they had become not all that far back. Karachi

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Replying to X