A testing mayoralty

A new(ish) layer of governance is emerging into the light, along with newly-elected and appointed figures, none of whom are likely to have an easy job wherever they are in the country. The local government elections have produced mayors, men and women who at least theoretically are going to be holding powerful positions. The new mayor of Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz, elected on February 15, is set to take charge in the coming days, and he will have a lot on his plate. Even before he gets into his office on the first day, there is the matter of how he handles people like Chaudhry Riffat for instance, who is one of three deputy mayors also elected on February 15. That Mr Riffat has ‘an agenda’ for Islamabad is well-enough known, and it may not be quite the same agenda as that of Mr Aziz. Then there is the established, and deeply entrenched, bureaucracy that has been used to having its own way virtually since the foundations of the city were first laid. It is complex, layered, seemingly infinitely and unaccountably powerful and unlikely to welcome any new broom that Mr Aziz will bring with him.

Islamabad looked wonderful on paper in the 1960s and when the capital was moved there in 1966, its open aspect and tree-lined avenues were something of a wonder. In many ways, things have gone steadily downhill ever since. The new mayor says that his priorities are solving the chronic sanitation problem, the equally chronic water shortages and building (yet more) new roads. He might also add rubbish collection, the provision of affordable housing, demolishing illegal building encroachments and taming a bureaucracy that is hand in glove with some of those involved in illegal developments. On taking up his post, Mr Aziz becomes the head of the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC). He is to provide ‘leadership vision’ to the IMC in consultation with others of the many departments that have fingers in the Islamabad pie. Somebody needs to get a grip of Islamabad, and we can do no more than wish Mr Aziz the very best of luck. He’s going to need it.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2016.

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