Lawmakers stress need to strengthen LG system

Call for financial autonomy for local bodies.

ISLAMABAD:

Parliamentarians on Wednesday urged the government and the electoral watchdog to hold the local government elections as it was unfortunate that the system was not being strengthened, particularly in Punjab where elections had not been held at the grassroot level since 2021.

They were speaking at a session titled, 'Local Government System in Pakistan: From Challenges to Resilience' under the Sustainable Development Conference organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

MNA Nafisa Shah, the convener of the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy, said that true governance was at the grassroot level and for that "we have to go to the doorstep of the people whether we occupy the position of prime minister."

She said that after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Article 140-A had been strengthened and now local governments had become a provincial subject, adding that there were challenges but even then governance should be devolved.

Nafeesa said out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals, most of them concerned local government system, including clean water and sustainable cities. "If we did not have a local government system in place in Sindh, we would not have been able to reach the flood-affected people in 2022," the MNA said, adding that until political parties didn't reach a consensus on local government, we could not move forward.

She suggested the local government elections should be held within 90 days under the Constitution and the local governments should have financial autonomy.

MNA Riaz Fatyana said that the last time, local government elections were held under the party system was back in 2015, adding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had been negligent in its duty to hold local government polls within the timeframe.

He suggested an amendment should be made to fix a date for holding elections on the pattern of the US where polls were held on Nov 5 after every four years. Fatyana also deplored the fact that there was a leadership crisis due to a ban on student unions and the non-holding of local government elections.