Power to the people: ‘New law provides for devolution rather than delegation of powers’

Speakers say local governments would substantially raise service quality standards

LAHORE:

The question as to whether or not the local government system will work is a dangerous one, since it has always been used to prevent the system from being implemented, Advocate Waqas Mir said at a talk on Local Government: A Chance for Real Democracy held at The Last Word on Friday.

The discussion was moderated by lawyer Rafay Alam.

Mir said one of the main reasons behind the argument was that the people of Pakistan were not used to the local government system which is why they shied away from it.

Mir discussed the Punjab Local Government Act 2013, formulated under Article 140A of the Constitution. He said one of the major differences between the current Act and previous ones was that it talked about “devolution” of power as opposed to “delegation” of power to local governments.

He said the law accorded vast administrative powers regarding land use, traffic planning, and storm drainage to local governments. “In fact everything that might impact us citizens on a day-to-day basis has been devolved to local governments,” he said.

Mir said that in addition to this an effective local government can envision the structure and shape of the city, bringing it closer to the vision of the people.

Mir said the Local Government Ordinance 2013 was far from perfect. “But despite its flaws, it is a great victory.” Mir said it was important to remember that flaws could be rectified and the Act should not be considered as the final word. He said in an atmosphere where devolving powers to local governments could decrease power held by the current political elite, the document was an achievement. One way of ensuring that local governments are empowered is to vote in the right people, he said.

He said there were several types and models of local government systems in place throughout the world which could be looked at.

Columnist Umair Javed said one of the reasons why political parties did not want to hand power to the local governments was that they were not sure of election results. He said the political system of Pakistan had been highly centralised and most political parties are not organised at the grassroots level.

Javed said that so far, the case for local governments had only been argued from the viewpoint of democracy, however, it was equally important to say that they would substantially improve the quality of services provided to citizens.

Addressing the recent issue of the demolition of the I-11 katchi abadi by the CDA in Islamabad, the three panellists said that the issue could have been handled better had local governments been in place. They said the residents of the area would have had a say in the decision making process that way.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2015.