Sindh local government law

With the local government law in place, we're one step closer to having local bodies elections.

The Sindh government passed its local government law in the assembly on August 19. The session was not a heated one as was expected, given the last time the government repealed the law, the MQM left the then coalition government. The main issue raised by the party at the time was that the copies of the bill were not shared until the bill was tabled, which did not give it enough time to study it before it could be turned into an act. This time around, the MQM did, however, raise hue and cry over the fact that the PPP chose to amend the 1979 local government law, which gives relatively more power to the chief minister, instead of the one from 2001. While the PPP covered its bases by inviting proposals to the local government bill by all political parties, members of civil society and NGOs before tabling the bill, the MQM stood its ground.

Nevertheless, the fact that there is a local government law in place is a good sign as it shows we are one step closer to having local bodies elections. All the various political parties in Sindh will put up their candidates, the residents of the province will go out to vote once again and elect people who they can approach for solving problems in their immediate vicinity. This is an achievement as governance has devolved down to a level that is closer to the people. According to provincial minister Nisar Khuhro, this law is going to devolve political, administrative and financial authority to elected representatives which should lead to better governance compared with giving all authority to bureaucrats, who are not accountable to the people.

There are fears that the new law may create rifts between rural and urban centres or it may be ineffective if the power eventually lies with the provincial government, as those heading the municipal corporations will be answerable to the local government minister. We should hope that the elected representatives take a moral high ground and focus their attention on those who vote for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2013.

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