Pakistan’s biggest governance problem is the lopsided decorum of distribution of powers. While we fancy our elected institutions, especially at provincial and national levels, we are too oblivious when it comes to the local tier of power dispensation. This is where the root cause of all ill rests as the system has failed to empower the masses at their grassroots levels and denied them administrative and financial autonomy. The local government tiers currently, as per law, are at the beck and call of provincial governments, and there are hardly any residuary powers with the elected members at council, district and union levels. Moreover, the mayors of metropolitans are handicapped when it comes to managing the civic amenities as well as the police. This ordeal has left development in doldrums, and the people in a sense of marginalisation.
MQM has come up with a novel idea to seek a constitutional amendment to strengthen local governments. Many of the political forces, it seems, have realised the lacuna of 18th Amendment that not only deprived the Federation of its powers and clout, but also the local tiers of elected institutions. At the moment, LBs are in the grip of provincial governments, and they are treated no less than a pariah. A roundtable by the MQM over this issue in Karachi, held in the outgoing week, was successful in harnessing support for an empowered LB structure, and the need to clip the provincial prerogative was agreed upon. This is a welcome development, though. The fact that the PPP, which has ruled Sindh literally for four decades and has utterly failed to develop it, was missing from the new consensus is worrisome.
A valuable point made at the MQM moot was that all democratic forces must decide to empower the local tiers of government, and to ensure that LB vote is held before every general election. Likewise, enabling the local government to collect taxes and tolls, and regulate the utilities such as sewerage, electricity and water is a must. Only then can the grievances of the masses be addressed in a holistic and genuine manner.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2023.
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