Pakistan has remained, and continues grimly to remain, engaged in repeated constitutional reengineering of policies formulated for the centralization and the decentralization of political powers in the hands of the representative and the non-representative fraternities, starting with Ayub khan’s basic democracies disguise in regaining stability and continuing till present in various dilatory strategies.
Moreover, from the start, an inconsistency has been seen between the autonomy of local bodies and bureaucratic institutions. Hierarchical bureaucracy, by restraining the resources distribution, has reduced the involvement of local bodies in administrative-related matters like infrastructure development and so on.
The constant changes in the local government laws amount to the political favor of respective governments. thus destroying the smooth evolution of democratic values in the country. The real essence of democracy always lies in devolution of power and effective functioning of local governments. The provisions of articles in the 1973 constitution like Article 140-A act as the framework and basis for the local governments to be functional, but the execution and the delays in elections by the governments and non-representative tier are problematic. There is an utter need to pay attention to Article 140-A which states that “Each Province shall, by legislation, create a local government system and transfer political, administrative, and financial responsibility and power to the elected representatives of the local governments.”
Pakistan has seen several local government acts with a lot of amendments done afterwards. Instead of evolving and improving the established acts after the consultation of the stakeholders, the introduction of whole new bills and amendments debase the spirit and the autonomy of local governments.
For instance, the former local bodies system, Punjab Local Government Act 2013, was abolished after the governor signed the Punjab Local Government Bill 2019 on 4th May 2019. PLGA 2019, which has equivocally brought new theories to operate LGs. This tier of democracy always remains a conundrum, wiping out the true essence of democracy. Presently, LGs are facing the same fate. In March 2021 the Supreme Court ordered to restore the local governments but the government delayed the restoration process till October 2021, when the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into the delay and remarked that whoever is responsible for the delay would be held accountable and ordered to restore the LGs immediately. The question arises who will be responsible for the lost period after the dissolution of LGs, even after the order of the Supreme Court.
The time where Pakistan’s bureaucracy is demarcated within the barricades, local governments need to become endogenous to strengthen the democracy. The public exclusion by the authoritarians and the incumbent government’s unhesitating suspension of the local governments in all the provinces they govern, protecting under the name of amendments adds insult to injury to the already suffering democracy. The outlandish deferrals in reinforcing local governments and conducting elections are exacerbating conditions for the average person
The Lahore High Court has dismissed the pleas that the tenure must be of five years as promised before elections. Moreover, the Supreme Court ordered to give power to LGs in March 2021 but that was delayed till October 2021 and even now union councils have not been able to gain financial powers. The Supreme Court is hearing another petition regarding the delay in implementation of the order under the contempt petition, but has not extended their period in office. In the present circumstances, the legal hurdle to end the local governments on 31st December 2021 was removed by the LHC. In all the enigma, local bodies’ current tenure is going to end on 31st December 2021.However, the PTI government has not even announced the schedule for the local government elections in Punjab
The Punjab government’s haste to introduce PLGA 2021 without consultation of stakeholders is despotic. The presentation delivered to the cabinet was not even complete and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar approved the Punjab Local Government Act 2021, where the elections would be conducted through the usage of already conflicted electronic voting machines (EVMS). Implementing the new Local Government Act through an ordinance in the presence of the Assembly in Punjab is not according to democratic norms. This game of disrespecting the assemblies and bulldozing the legislative process needs to stop.
This ordinance has followed the precedent of the Peshawar High Court which ordered the holding of the holding of village and neighborhood council elections on party basis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. And there are multiple judgements that there would be no non-party elections, starting from the judgement of chief justice Iftikhar Chaudry.
The judiciary is insisting on the local bodies’ proper restoration, whereas the incumbent government is resistant to handing over the powers completely and is waiting for the tenure to end by 31 December, and then the elections would be held on the basis of the new law. It is yet to see the fate of local government elections under new law as the Election Commission of Pakistan has already submitted more than 70 objections in Lahore High Court and the way the government is passing the bills through ordinances without consultation of stakeholders is annoying as there are always flaws in the bills/laws brought without the consultation of the stakeholders. The Punjab government has delayed things already, but it is understandable that ECP is frustrated with the Punjab government’s obstructions.
The time where Pakistan’s bureaucracy is demarcated within the barricades, local governments need to become endogenous to strengthen the democracy. The public exclusion by the authoritarians and the incumbent government’s unhesitating suspension of the local governments in all the provinces they govern, protecting under the name of amendments adds insult to injury to the already suffering democracy. The outlandish deferrals in reinforcing local governments and conducting elections are exacerbating conditions for the average person.
