PILDAT analyses state of democracy in Pakistan

Calls for constitutional amendments to strengthen local governments

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) on Monday highlighted structural problems within Pakistan’s political system in a report analyzing the current state of democracy and its prospects in 2023.

The report carried an analysis of the functioning of all three organs of the state which are crucial for democratic governance of the masses within a political system.

It also discussed different political events of 2022 including the vote of no-confidence motion in the National Assembly which led to the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan and election for the post of chief minster Punjab after subsequent involvement of the courts.

The report lauded the role of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the backdrop of recent political events. It also discussed some court judgments reversing the commission’s actions against the accused polling staff at Daska by-election. This raises some concerns over the independence of the commission, which is crucial for free and fair elections.

Highlighting the role of strong local government system, the report said: “PILDAT believes and has proposed that Pakistan requires constitutional amendment defining scope, role, responsibility and tenure of LG system. Local Governments are just as important a tier as national and provincial governments whose domain, term, role and subjects are defined in the constitution in detail. However, same clarity is required in the constitution to define LGs.”

Local Government should get the same financial protection guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan to the provinces under National Finance Commission (NFC) to make sure that the third tier of the government works freely and not at the whims of the provincial governments.

The report also highlighted that the Supreme Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial, failed to build consensus of JCP on judges’ elevation to the apex court, which was evident from the public letters of Justice Qazi Faez Isa of Supreme Court.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)