 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
Opinion Archive
The News International Pakistan
|
| |
 |
| Scrapping local governments |
|
|
|
By Riaz Khan
After February the democratic forces, are trying to dismantle all the previous initiatives of the Musharraf rule. Shahbaz Sharif is bent upon destroying the last vestiges of Pervaiz Ellahi while the PPP continues to play a double game. The local government system is also a high value target. A major factor in their survival so far has been the support of President Musharraf, who is himself now countering impeachment threats. A final democratic assault by the higher level democratic and bureaucratic forces against local democracy is imminent.
There is an intense debate in the country amongst the various stakeholders on the future of local governments. Should the system be totally scrapped? If not, then to what extent should it be amended? What should be the principles of the new governance paradigm and the parameters of service delivery? Will the amendments be conducted through a transparent consultative process? Will the new system be controlled by DCs and Commissioners? Will the erstwhile system of 1979 which was totally subservient to the bureaucrats be reintroduced? These are some of the questions which need to be addressed, as the local governments have come to a standstill. This article is an attempt to put the issues in perspective.
Local government is a provincial subject, but in 2002 the system was safeguarded through its inclusion in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution. This protection was considered necessary to provide time for the system to stabilise and create acceptance by the provincial governments, who were against it. Opponents of Musharraf believe that the system, like Ayub Khan's "Basic Democracy," was meant to provide a platform for extending military rule by weakening the provinces, democracy, the civil service and the political parties. Thus the seeds of disagreements and discontent were there from day one and continue to haunt the system.
Musharraf repealed the 1979 system of local government introduced by Zia-ul-Haq, another dictator, and brought about massive structural change in "governance" at the provincial and district level. More than 85,000 elected councillors are part of this system, which includes 33 percent representation for women. Deputy Commissioners and Commissioners were abolished and replaced with DCOs and Nazims. The bureaucracy was made subservient to the Nazim. Executive magistracy was abolished. The rural-urban divide was removed. The divisional tier was disbanded. MNAs and MPAs have now no role in local development. The role of the provincial governments has been limited to formulation of laws, rules, standard settings and performance analysis. Provincial oversight is primarily through the Local Government Commission. The police has been made answerable to the Nazim with oversight also provided through the public safety commissions. Distribution of provincial resources between the provincial government and local governments is through the provincial finance commissions. Budgets are prepared and implemented by local governments. 25 percent of the development budget is reserved for Citizens Community Boards. It is these fundamental governance reforms centred on the citizens that are under threat of reversal.
The local governments have faced numerous problems since 2001, with some arising due to its design flaws, while others were created due to political interference and non-acceptance of the system by the bureaucracy. The local governments also created a bad name for themselves through their corruption, politicisation, mismanagement, inefficiency and poor governance. Major conceptual issues which now need debate and resolution include functional separation, intergovernmental relationships, vertical linkages, Nazim and DCO relations, mode of elections, involvement of the MNAs and MPAs, coordination between devolved and un-devolved offices, ensuring the writ of the government, creation of district service, vertical programmes, federal to provincial devolution, performance of councils, elite capture and local capacity. The detractors of the system may be thus be right in saying that they should not be bound or tied to a system which is beset with problems, is incapable of delivering and has no ownership.
There are diverse views and opinions about the local government system. The PML-N wants to scrap the system and go back to the old "DC" system propped up by "Executive Magistracy." The pro-Musharraf parties, like the PML-Q and the MQM which had opposed it behind the scenes, now want continuation of the system. The ANP recommends the revival of the 1979 system. The PPP is not in a position to scrap the system due to the tacit agreement with Musharraf. The NGOs for the first time are very happy and support the system wholeheartedly as it has provided them with access to into the government domain and thus an opportunity to expand their agenda and activities of social mobilisation, empowerment and capacity building through donor funding. Women's groups are happy as the system has provided them a platform for entry into mainstream politics. The Nazims praise the system to high heaven, while the bureaucrats run it down and term it unworkable. Donors like the World Bank, ADB, DFID, UNDP and CIDA have been supporting the devolution process in Pakistan. However, on the ground some encouraged vertical programmes which undermined devolution. Today they are trying to salvage their current programmes, projects and legal agreements and pondering over their future support. The citizen's perception can be judged from the first Pakistan National Corruption Perception Survey 2006 conducted by Transparency International in which 68 percent of the respondents rated the local government system as a better system.
What will be the future shape of the new local government system? This is a difficult question. Establishment of fully functional and effective local governments requires a consensus on the legal, political, administrative, financial, governance, social and economic dimensions by all levels of governments. Legally the future has to be guided by Article 140-A of the Constitution introduced under the LFO which states that "Each Province, by law, shall establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments." Like Article 6 it may not be able to provide the necessary safeguard for local governments. The experience of India shows that the states are reluctant to devolve any of their powers to local governments despite inclusion in the Indian Constitution in 1993.
The design options can vary from establishing a totally subservient local government system which is an extension of the provincial departments and devoid of public input to one which is totally autonomous. Depending on the concerns and reservations of the stakeholders the solution may lead to a complete change of system--e.g., getting rid of the Tehsil tier. It is possible that while catering to provincial peculiarities we may end up with four completely different systems. By all means the system may be revamped but it must be based on logic and analysis, and not simply for political expediency. The provincial level elected representatives and bureaucrats would, however, love to have a local government system over which they have total control. However, the old top-down bureaucratic pre-devolution system also did not deliver as the country was at the bottom in terms of human development in the world. Executive Magistracy is not the answer to the lawlessness, rising inflation, macroeconomic issues and the deep rooted governance malaise. One must be careful that "Executive Magistracy" does not become "Executive Judiciary."
How should one move forward? Efforts to improve and consolidate the system in the past included one round of amendments in 2005 by NRB in a controlled environment with the Consultation spanning over a year. Recently to obtain provincial views the NRB had called a meeting in May 2008 while the Ministry of Local Government also held a meeting on July 22. The provinces' reluctance to disclose their stance could be due to the uncertain political and legal environment surrounding the local governments and are perhaps waiting for the end of August when they will be competent to amend the LGOs. If the safeguard is till the end of August 2009, then without the sanction of President Musharraf, it will not be possible to bring about any drastic change in the system unless he is impeached. Like the judges' issue such amendments might also get stuck in modalities. A coordinated mechanism and a timeframe for moving the process forward is missing. The past mistake of bulldozing the amendments should not be repeated. If not handled with care this seemingly simple issue of local governments can become a nightmare.
The writer has worked for seven years in NRB, of which he is a former member. Email: riazkhancrm@msn.com
|
| |
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
|
 |
ISSN 1563-9479