The Sindh Assembly is a place of ironies. Legal interpretations are often illegal and against the interests of the people, the most competent and concerned are those with limited or no constituency, almost all parties are in government in theory but only the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is in power in practice, and the man most suitable for the chief minister’s post is left to sort out the childish bickering between MPAs from the Speaker’s pulpit.
Democracy, of course, is a system of people’s representation. Since the PPP dominates the Assembly because of its greater numbers, its verdict on issues almost always prevails. The PPP’s stand on the contentious issue of local government is that the system instituted by General (retd) Pervez Musharraf is rife with inefficiencies, breeds corruption and has created more bureaucratic wrangles in most parts of the province.
In the absence of elected local government representatives, what does the PPP do? Make MPAs do the job of a city council – as was evident by the proceedings on Tuesday. Legislating whether Sheeshah should be banned in public places, or for that matter, the implementation of a larger ban on smoking in public places, is the purview of a local government. Though a local government issue made its way to the provincial legislature, the discussion was largely one-sided, almost monotonous, and without a devil’s advocate.
Whatever was said did not classify as a “debate” since all MPAs seemed to be on the same page, and many jumped out of their seats simply to say, “buhat acha bill hai, hum iss kee himayat kartay haen.” No cons were discussed, the pragmatic aspects of implementing a ban didn’t figure in, nor did it occur to our representatives that entertainment alternatives that a government should provide should also be thrashed out.
Some even confused the issue, calling for a ban on the import of flavoured tobacco or citing Zakir Naek to claim a fatwa had been issued against anything harmful to the body. Were this the Karachi City Council, a debate would surely have taken place, at least by those whose investment or employment were at stake. The Sindh Assembly spent more than 45 minutes in congratulatory platitudes.
With that much time consumed, National People’s Party’s (NPP) Arif Mustafa Jatoi was left wondering if and when his private motion would be taken up that called for immediately holding local government elections. It never did, because it suits the PPP not to discuss the issue. That man in the Speaker’s pulpit, Nisar Khuhro, knows fully well that an elected form of local government challenges the PPP’s localised power centres built on influence and tribal associations.
On the other hand, those whose political survival depends on the visible developmental works and jobs created by the system simply tagged along with the PPP. Long live local government. I mean, the Sindh government.
