Rules of the game need to be devised as provincial govts are ready
August 15 is the deadline the Supreme Court (SC) has given provincial governments to complete the demarcation of constituencies for the local bodies elections. September 15 is the date it has proposed for the local government polls to be held in all provinces. But the SC itself is well aware that the relevant provincial legislations have yet to have been passed through the elected assemblies. The stalemates in Sindh and Punjab and the security situation in Balochistan are well known. While the SC is taking up a noble cause, the question is: how can local bodies elections be held without the relevant legislation – and a consensus on the ground? This is of course no reason for provincial governments to delay the task ad infinitum. The constitution of Pakistan mandates that governance must be devolved to local level constituencies and the continuing delay means that the guaranteed right of citizens to have a local-level democracy is being denied.
Political parties continue to see local bodies as a risk and cite the closeness of local bodies systems to military dictatorships as the reason. But the facts are that each political party is calculating the matter to maximize its stronghold in the long-term. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) led coalition government in Khyber Pakthunkhwa appears to be the most willing to hold the polls. The reason: since the PTI does not have an absolute majority in the province, it wishes to ensure its hold over the province remains intact on the ground. The LBs offer the best solution. In Sindh, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) wants a six month delay to allow it to reach an understanding with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) over the mechanism. Both parties want to secure their constituencies, rural for the former and urban for the later, through the mechanism of LBs. The Baloch nationalist groups also feel the system can strengthen their hold and weaken the power of tribal leaders, but the security situation remains a concern. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab feels the LB elections could fuel rifts between its MNAs and MPAs.
Overtly the good news is that three of the four advocate generals said their respective provincial governments were ready to hold the polls on the date recommended by the SC. The Election Commission of Pakistan has suggested that they shall need at least 90 days to hold the elections after the relevant requests were received from the provincial governments. Only Sindh appears to want an extension to hold the polls next year. However, again the simple question of what rules will the local bodies election be held under remains unresolved. The SC may do well to insist that provincial governments speed up that process first – if not, then question marks will remain over the process under which they were held.
