Local governments and the PTI

None of the provinces held local govet elections until they were compelled by SC to do so

Since coming to power, the PTI has been vocal about the need to make governance more effective and responsive to the needs of the people. Effective devolution of power does offer prospects of deepening democracy. However, there are many problems with the current local government system which undermine such lofty goals.

Before assessing the PTI attempts to reform local governments, it is useful to recall broader Pakistan’s larger experience with devolution. Traditionally, our centralist military governments have relied on non-party based local governments to bypass provinces and political parties, while at the same time trying to achieve some semblance of legitimacy. In 2008, all political parties hailed the passage of the 18^th amendment which gave provinces more autonomy from the centre. However, our democratic political parties in all provinces remained reluctant to share power further. None of the provinces held local government elections until the end of 2015, till they were compelled by the Supreme Court to do so. When local government elections were finally held on a party basis, parties which controlled the province largely dominated most of the local government structures as well.

Despite their own party candidates winning local government elections, provincial governments remained reluctant to share policymaking and financial power with lower tiers of government. Compared to other provinces, the PTI did go further in terms of implementing local governments by devolving power down to the village level. However, the functioning of these village and neighbourhood councils proved quite difficult in practice. The relative lack of expertise and capacity at the local level also limited utilisation of LG funds allocated to them.

Now becoming a part of provincial governments in Balochistan and Punjab, the PTI initially wanted to reform these rival-party held local government system on the K-P model. In the case of Punjab, for instance, where most local government positions are held by the PML-N, the PTI was keen to change the Punjab Local Government Act but it does not enjoy the needed majority in the provincial assembly to do so. Given the chances of litigation and agitation from other political parties, the PTI government has decided that it will let the incumbent local governments complete their respective tenures. It is however unlikely that the provincial government in Punjab, including the PTI’s new chief minister, will give any power or funds to the existing local governments.

Apparently, the PTI is now trying to reconfigure the local government system based on which new local bodies will be elected in 2020. Some decisions in this regard include plans to elect mayors directly in the next round of local government elections. That is a good idea and it would also be useful to take local government units down further to the village/neighbourhood level in Balochistan and Punjab. However, it is important that local governments in the future have more financial and political autonomy from the provincial government, than they currently enjoy, even in K-P.

Other important issues that the new local government acts are being contemplated by the PTI need to focus on including the need to increase the proportion of seats allocated to women, and to allow women and other marginalised groups to contest their seats directly. Unless this happen, maginalised groups remain obliged to follow the line of their party leaders and patrons rather than safeguarding the interests of the communities they represent. Moreover, it is vital to ensure that revised local government legislation also provides means to ensure that seats for workers and peasants can only be contested by these individuals.

Implementation of these above reforms will be a litmus test for whether the PTI can bring governance down to the local level. Conversely, tokenistic attempts at local government reforms will merely allow PTI electables at the federal and provincial level to continue ruling the country from above.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2018.

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