Foundation for good governance

Local governments

Most of the countries with parliamentary democracies have a three-tier system of governance, with local governments being a pivot of the whole system. The constitution of Pakistan also envisages a three-layered system of governance in the country, comprising of federal, provincial and local governments. But it is painful to note that while the federal and provincial governments have been functioning uninterrupted both under civilian and military rules, it were only the latter who installed systems of local governments during their rules, though not as envisaged in the constitution but with the sole purpose of building support for their regimes at the grass-root level and to undermine the political parties. The elected governments that interspersed the military regimes remained criminally oblivious to this constitutional requirement. The consequences of this willful breach of the constitution by the so-called elected governments are that the state of Pakistan has, to a great extent, failed to provide the required services to its citizens and building a responsible relationship with them.

The model of local government originally crafted by the National Bureau of Reconstruction during Musharraf era was probably the boldest initiative that conformed to the system envisioned in the constitution. It enhanced the powers of the elected officials of the local government and abolished the office of district magistrate and divisional commissioners. This step also finally fulfilled the constitutional requirement under article 175(3) for separation of judiciary from executive at the district level. However, the PML-Q government installed by Musharraf defanged the system by changing some of its features and initiating a process of recentralisation of some of the development departments. Musharraf acquiesced to these changes dictated by political expediencies.

Regrettably, the moment democracy was restored in the country as a result of 2008 elections, all the provincial governments abandoned the system and revived the archaic and colonial system of district administration. None of the parties ruling the provinces, in spite of crying hoarse from every convenient rooftop to rub in their democratic credentials, ever bothered to hold local government elections. What a shame!

Thanks to the petitions filed by the citizens in the Supreme Court and its consequent order to the provinces to hold local government elections by September 2013, a ray of hope had been rekindled to empower the people at the grass-root level and to manage their own affairs. Article 140A (1 and 2) stipulates: “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 local governments. Elections to the local governments shall be held by the Election Commission of Pakistan.”

As is evident from this article the local government system envisaged by the constitution demands devolution of full powers to the local governments, including development projects and the local administration, free from the strangulating control of the provincial governments. But it is painful to note that the Supreme Court’s orders have not been implemented so far by the provincial governments on one pretext or the other. The Supreme Court in its order on March 19 this year had asked the federal and provincial governments to enact new laws regarding the delimitation of the constituencies by the Election Commission and the ECP was given 45 days to accomplish the task after the required legal changes by the federal and provincial governments. The provinces have not yet initiated the legislative work in this regard and the ECP feels that it cannot complete the delimitation work before six months and has requested the SC to give them the required time for completing the job. Indications are that the LB polls would remain an elusive dream at least till the end of 2014.

The media reports about the contemplated legislative measures by the provinces suggest that they are not willing to effectively empower the local bodies and lose their authority to control them. If that is the thinking then the provincial governments will only be fulfilling the constitutional requirement of installing the local government rather than actually putting in place an effective system to resolve the problems of the people at the grass-root level. The local government system can deliver only when social sectors are completely decentralised and service providers made accountable to the local elected officials; the local administration is run by the elected representatives meaning that the police and district bureaucracy is under their control; sufficient funds are allocated to the them and the dubious practice of giving development funds to the legislators is done away with. The setting up of the local governments in conformity with article 140A and 175(3) of the constitution would undoubtedly provide a strong foundation for good governance in the country.

The country also needs radical reforms in the way we elect our leaders. The present system of electing the legislators on single constituency basis has actually strengthened and perpetuated the archaic and colonial system with a predominant feudal character. The best way to break the hold of the feudal lords on the political power in this country is to adopt the system of proportional representation. Under this system people vote for the parties rather than the individual candidates in a single constituency and the parties get representation in the parliament on the basis of the percentage of votes that they poll. The advantage of this system is that it reflects the real support for the political parties among the masses and also ensures the presence of smaller and regional parties in the parliament making the legislature a truly representative body.

The party leaders are spared of the blackmail of the hereditary legislators who keep shifting their loyalties to cash in on their ability to make and break governments and they can nominate really competent and educated people from different walks of national life to represent the party in the parliament. The system also eliminates the possibility of horse trading and floor-crossing. To make this system really workable voting will also have to be made compulsory as is the case in more than 50 countries, mostly European, where proportional representation system is in vogue. Even in UK, a serious thought is being given to adopting this system. It is most suitable for countries with multiple cultural entities like Pakistan.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif needs to reform the political system on priority basis to achieve the desired results, as only intentions are not enough. The country needs a system which makes the process once initiated, self-sustaining.