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Devolution of Power

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Devolution of power

 November 7, 2018
Abdul Rasool Syed

To ensure good governance, decentralization of the centralized dispensation in a federal structure is of


paramount importance. Devolution of power from the Centre to provinces and then from provinces to local
level is an indispensable sine qua non for heterogeneous countries like Pakistan, where large segments of
citizenry remain marginalized by the centralist and patronage-based governance mechanism. Political
luminaries contend that the local government serves as a political nursery for churning out leaders at grass
roots level. The perpetuity of the local governance therefore results in the emergence of dynamic and
empathetic leadership. People who rise from grass roots have deep insight of the issues that the people living at
the margins are faced with and are hence aptly capable of dealing with such issues effectively.
Chronologically, after the independence, Pakistan’s first serious attempt to focus on local government occurred
during martial law regime of General Ayub Khan. Since then, different versions of local government have
been introduced and experimented by elected and non-elected governments. Ironically, during the democratic
period of 1988-99, four democratically elected governments gained power, but none of them worked on the
local government system. The next time Pakistan’s experiment with devolution was under General Pervez
Musharraf. His devolutionary exercise was also a legitimizing strategy for his centralized rule, since it did not
devolve power from the federal level to the provinces and instead focused on creating local governments on a
non-party basis. Yet the local government ordinance (LGO) 2001 passed early in Musharraf’s tenure was quite
ambitious in its scope. However, the passage of 18th Amendment was a pronounced step forward for the
continuation and protection of the system. Clause 140 A (1) of this Amendment stipulated that “each province
shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial
responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the governments” and 140 A (2) states that
elections to the local government shall be held by Election Commission of Pakistan”. In addition, article 132 of
Constitution ensures the participation of marginalized groups such as women, minorities, peasants and
labourers in the local government elections.
Despite enactment of enough legislation, the local government system could not thrive in our country. Power
intoxicated politicians in cahoots with bureaucratic juggernaut created umpteen hurdles in the way of this
system. One glaring example of it is that LG election in 2015 was conducted on the order of Supreme Court. It
speaks volumes of attitude of State institutions towards local bodies. Moreover, the local government law says
that federal government and provincial government will legislate while the development works would be done
by the local governments. The situation on the ground is that the MNAs, MPAs and even the Senators want to
have their say in the development work. This tug of war therefore results in institutional clash. However, Prime
Minister Imran Khan has vowed that he would not dole out development fund to MPAs and MNAs. This is
undoubtedly a right step towards right direction. If it happens, there is strong possibility that local government
will start bearing the fruits. Besides, there is still only about 15 percent of participation of women in lower tire
of the government whereas the law requires 33 percent. Women’s inclusion as per requirement therefore
should be enhanced. There should be a mechanism of fair representation of labourers as well. Another snag
that hampers the performance of the local government system is the power of Chief Minister of the province to
dissolve the local government at his whims. In exercise of this power, the local governments introduced by
Pervez Musharaf were dissolved by provincial govts. Such powers need to be revoked forthwith.
Notwithstanding of the aforementioned impediments, the following antidotes may be prescribed for the
efficient delivery of the third tier of government: first, neither the constitution of Pakistan nor the Sindh Local
Government Act, 2013 have any stipulated time for re-election of local bodies after completion of term or in
case of early dissolution. That is why the Supreme Court has to intervene for the election of next term. This
situation warrants a timely legislation with respect to timeframe at relevant legislative houses for the
continuation of the system without any hiatus. Second, the government should initiate capacity building
programs for the local representatives so that they might understand the rules of business and deliver up to the
required touchstone.
Third, the role of the parliamentarians and elected councilors should be clearly defined for overlapping of the
role is a structural obstruction in smooth functioning of the local bodies. Federal as well as provincial
legislators have nothing to do with the development funds. Fourth, the government should create a federal
level institution to oversee the devolution process. The National Reconstruction Bureau established by the
Musharaf Government as an independent federal institution to formulate LGO 2001 and oversee its
implementation was dissolved in 2011. A similar entity without undermining the principles of provincial
autonomy provided by eighteenth amendment, needs to be created. Fifth, the process of devolving fiscal
responsibility to local governments needs to be managed with caution. Financial devolution must be
accompanied by financial oversight. It is thus important to supplement existing accountability mechanisms,
using third party and citizen audits of the local governments. Sixth and the last, the current government of PTI
intends to introduce new local bodies where PTI has its government through direct elections for tehsil and
district heads that run contrary to the prevalent system in Punjab. Under this dispensation, PTI plans to elect
City Mayor directly by the people as it is practiced in London and Scandinavian countries. But the Sindh
government has shown its reluctance to welcome any innovation. The sanity therefore demands that before
introduction of any new system, the consensus of the provinces must be sought otherwise the situation may
lead to Centre-Province disharmony.
— The writer is Advocate at Balochistan High Court.

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