Local government elections are important for the health of democracy in any country
LAHORE: Local government elections are important for the health of democracy in any country. These elections enable ordinary citizens to become responsible for the financial and administrative affairs of their areas. By taking important posts and responsibilities, people feel that they are an integral part of the system, so their stake in the system increases. Local government elections are important for backward and under-developed areas of Pakistan. If these elections are held regularly, people from remote areas will not have to come to the large cities, like Karachi or Lahore, to furnish complaints in government offices because the problem-solving machinery will be available in their own areas. There are many instances of development work done by locally-elected people, which otherwise would have remained undone had these elections not been held in the past. Some news channels highlighted the importance of local government elections last year after the election body announced that the holding of these elections will be looked into soon. Special advertisements were aired in which previously elected local representatives revealed how an earthquake-hit school was rebuilt in a few weeks and a new dispensary was opened just because the locals had funds at their disposal to deal with such an emergency.
Local government polls that have been held in Pakistan in the past have ironically seen the strengthening of bureaucratic stranglehold instead of giving those elected true authority. As ill luck would have it, the previous PPP government and the current PML-N dispensation have been dragging their feet on the holding of local government polls despite a clear-cut ruling of the Supreme Court in this regard. The political leadership of the country should understand that local governments are necessary for providing people instant relief in trying times as well as for promoting a culture of democracy in the country. If local government elections are held in Pakistan soon, as per the Supreme Court ruling, the people’s faith in democratic institutions will be strengthened. Let’s hope that the relatively well-developed provinces, like Punjab and Sindh, will learn their lessons from smaller provinces like Balochistan, and will make arrangements for holding local government polls soon.
Ishaq Rasheed
Published in The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2015.
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