Islamabad Assembly: ‘Tall claim’, or reality?

Babar Awan says assembly is on the cards, experts not so sure.

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad will soon be divided into two districts and a 10-member elected assembly will legislate for it, Federal Minister for Law and Justice & Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan told The Express Tribune.

“Islamabad is among the few designed and planned capital cities of the world, but what it lacks its own governance system,” he said. “I have almost completed work on the proposal and will ensure quick implementation of the new system,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding a local government system for the city, Awan replied that after the promulgation of Islamabad High Court Act through the 18th amendment, it has become necessary to introduce a separate system of governance in line with the provincial assemblies.

Chief Election Commissioner Tariq Pirzada endorsed and confirmed the idea, saying that the draft has already been sent to the interior ministry.

Experts, however, termed Awan’s statement “a tall claim”, and suggested that some practical steps be taken first if this path is to be followed. They noted a big challenge is to remove the existing legislation. The city, they said, is presently governed through an abundance of legislation in the form of Statuary Regulatory Orders.

They said there is no one way to administer a federal capital as it will always have both a national and local role.

Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmad, director of the Pakistan Study Centre University of Karachi, said that in federalist systems there are two types of capitals: historic and evolved like London (England), Rome (Italy) and Delhi (India); and designed and planned like Washington (USA), Canberra (Australia), Brasilia (Brazil), Abuja (Nigeria), Helsinki (Finland), and Islamabad.

Historically evolved capitals might not have an independent status, but purpose-built capitals almost always do.

“There are three major models of governance for capital cities. Central districts like Washington have a federal territory with constitutionally established legal status. City states like Brussels (Belgium) and Berlin (Germany) tend to have more powers than other cities, and cities in provinces like Ottawa (Canada), Bern (Switzerland), and Pretoria (South Africa) receive special funding from the federal government,” Dr Ahmad said.

Dr Pervez Tahir, former Chief Economist of Pakistan, told The Express Tribune that article 1(2b) of the Constitution of Pakistan mentions Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) as a separate territory within Pakistan.

In practice, Islamabad is not a province though, meaning it has no share in the National Finance Commission. Nor is it categorised with Federally Administered Tribal Areas, whose finances are provided by a federal ministry. The interior ministry controls the ICT Administration, which performs the traditional functions of a district and a division. The urban area is managed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), while the ICT administration manages the rural areas, he said.

Zafarullah Khan of the Civic Centre for Education said, “Islamabad has four senate seats, a much greater ratio compared to the population and quotas of other federal units, two national assembly seats, but no provincial assembly and no local body system at all.”

He added that residents of Islamabad deserved their democratic right to have elected representation at the helm of the civic affairs. “[There should be] a Citizens’ Assembly in Islamabad,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.