Towards filling the top slots
While local governments constitute the foundation of democracy and are a constitutional requirement, both PML-N and PPP have shunned holding their elections for years. This led the SC to order the provincial governments to undertake the exercise. The provincial administrations however continued to delay the exercise on one pretext or another till they were made to agree to prescribed deadlines. A year after holding the LG elections, Punjab has yet to elect chairmen and mayors in its 35 district councils and 12 metropolitan corporations.
Political parties in Pakistan have yet to develop grass root influence. Those in power often use government funds, the monopoly over lower level government jobs and a pliant bureaucracy to win the elections. They fear that with the induction of the local governments, they would be required to share development funds with them and would lose much of their present authority. The CMs are perturbed that they might not be able to divert funds from districts for the development of a few chosen cities. Political parties are worried over the prospect of the new generation of district council chairmen and mayors posing a challenge to the erstwhile ruling elite.
The two meetings held by PML-N leadership to make nominations for district council chairmen and mayors of metropolitan corporations were attended by nearly all important federal and Punjab government ministers. Everyone wanted to get one of his close relatives or reliable cronies to be nominated to ensure his own success in the next election. Shehbaz Sharif’s heir apparent reportedly got the lion’s share in the distribution of seats.
The chairmen and mayors have yet not been allotted sufficient development funds and the administrative authority that they enjoyed in Musharraf era. Some like the Karachi mayor have complained about it. In days to come there are going to be more complainants. It is time the parliamentarians start realising that their job is to make laws rather than build roads or ensure water supply in their constituencies.
