Hamza calls for national local body reform
Calling for national local body reforms, former Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz said that if an empowered local body system were allowed to function smoothly, with continuity of tenure similar to that of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies, there would not have been even a need to discuss new provinces.
During a meeting with the Pakistan English Media Association (PEMA), MNA Hamza said that while an empowered local body system was the right way forward, any debate on provinces should be held with extreme caution, and a way forward should be found only after thorough deliberation and consensus.
He said that, in principle, the debate on provinces should begin from within the province. Dialogue should also be opened on the law-and-order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Hamza termed dialogue a panacea for all political issues. He said keeping issues and their solutions on the back burner would further erode the faith of the people, who had lost confidence in the system.
The Pakistan English Media Association called on Hamza Shehbaz on Friday. During the meeting, different matters, ranging from media issues and new provinces to an ever-widening gulf between the public and the provincial government, came under discussion.
The meeting was led by PEMA President Rameez Khan and attended by representatives of local and international English media outlets.
Former CM Hamza Shehbaz commended the role of the English media in ensuring the highest standards of journalism, saying that to this day, despite electronic and social media, English media, especially print, remained the most credible source of unbiased information.
Laying down his priorities, he said that his primary focus was to address the issues confronting the common man of the country. He said his mission was to alleviate the suffering of the people.
Asked how, as part of the PM's team, he would be able to address these issues from the Centre when all powers rested with the provinces, he said, "Where there is a will, there is a way".
He said that disheartened people got further infuriated when they saw that their streets received no funds and their local issues were continuously ignored, but mega projects were given priority over them.
To a question regarding the chatter on provinces, he said any way forward on the issue of provinces could only be found through dialogue. However, he said he was a staunch believer in the fact that if the local bodies system were allowed to function, there would have been no need to even discuss the issue.
Regarding the impression that the establishment was backing the move for new provinces, he said every blame could not be laid on the establishment and that political parties should also do some navel-gazing. "Did we do our bit?" he asked.
"Even during our government, we did not empower local governments as much as we should have. We want to consolidate power in Punjab, and they want to consolidate power in Sindh. Even the mayor we bring in is powerless because we do not devolve power," Hamza said.
Bureaucrats always try to mislead sitting governments into believing that local government will encroach upon the powers of sitting governments and strip provincial governments of their authority.
He said bureaucrats were clever people who knew how to keep their bosses happy by telling them only what they liked to hear.
He said that local governments' tenure should be given constitutional cover to ensure that no government tinkered with them. He admitted that even the PML-N government had done little in this regard.
A weak local government system would not be able to resolve public issues, he said, adding that putting issues on the back burner would further disgruntle people. He said that if government policies were not people-centric, it could feed its people gold nuggets but would win no hearts.
To a question about the growing gulf between voters and the government, he said creating a distance from workers and voters marked the downfall of political parties. He said political parties excelled only when the bond between the people and them was strong.
Those in attendance included PEMA General Secretary Ali Raza, senior journalists Mubashir Bukhari, Mubashir Hasan, Babar Dogar and Samiullah Randhawa. PSO to Hamza, Imran Goraya, was also present during the meeting.