Pakistan

Long wait

It is unfortunate that the attitude of governments in Lahore and Karachi is preventing the handing down of power.

Editorial January 15, 2014

We can only draw the rather unfortunate conclusion that the governments have no real interest in devolving power to the grass roots; they would rather it stay in their own hands. PHOTO: ONLINE/FILE

People will have to wait even longer for local governments to be put in place in Punjab and Sindh. Hearing the case regarding polling in the two most populous provinces, the Supreme Court has permitted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to set entirely new dates for the process; the dates have been dragged forward since last year, and the ECP now says that the new dates could lie as far as six months off. The key issues concern delimitations of wards and also a new census. The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs has unanimously resolved that a census should be held before polls, a stance which means local governments may not be set up for over a year.

We have, over the past many months, seen a distinct reluctance on the part of the provincial governments to move on with the local bodies exercise. Delayed already by five years, it will now be pushed back further. It is worth noting that while the same governments have been in power in both provinces since 2008, they have shown no particular interest during this prolonged period of time in moving on with the local bodies or setting in place the groundwork necessary to conduct them properly. Indeed, they have had enough time to do this and the constitutional violation involved in this neglect has been ignored.

From this, we can only draw the rather unfortunate conclusion that the governments have no real interest in devolving power to the grass roots; they would rather it stay in their own hands. This, of course, amounts to a terrible disservice to people, denying them a basic right which could improve the lives they lead.

We now see a long period ahead of us before polls in these two provinces. The ECP would do well to try and push the process on as quickly as possible, given how long people have waited for it. A period of six months, or as now seems likely even more, is simply too far away. It is unfortunate that the attitude of governments in Lahore and Karachi is preventing the handing down of power so that democracy can move on as it should.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2014.

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