This is essentially what President General Pervez Musharraf did with his Local Government Ordinance 2001. Local Governments (LG) is a brilliant idea but when Musharraf tried to carry it out; he (in classical army style) left the provinces out of the loop.
In a country such as Pakistan where each province has an ethnic character and identity of its own this was a bad idea. With the passage of the 18th Amendment the provinces are now in charge of organising local governments. It is time that civil society groups think strategically and back the demands to hold local government elections. Some analysts have linked the MQM’s constant moves to leave the coalition as a pressure tactic to punish the PPP’s failure to establish local government bodies in Karachi and Hyderabad.
While this may be a politically dirty move and beneath the so-called educated classes to engage in, a closer look at the situation demonstrates an opportunity to improve governance and make inroads into the state’s political structure.
We talk about issues such as writ of state and governance in abstract terms without realising that there are very tangible steps that can be taken to address these concerns. We complain that we never see elected representatives in real life (if you live in Defence then you have no elected representatives). Local government systems are a way to address this problem.
Some of you may be asking: why are local governments even important? LG will help civil society get a foot in the door of politics and thereby change their religiously apolitical behavior. Running for LG does not require as many of the funds that are needed to run a campaign, or the massive patronage networks needed for a senate or national assembly seats, because the campaigns happen to be localised.
Moreover, the idealists among us do not need to break their principals because running for local bodies can be done independently of any affiliation to a political party. Not being able to push through this effort is a failure of civil society to capitalise on this issue by making alliances with a major political party to get important legislation. Local governments will help civil society get mobilised and it will muster the 90 million odd youth of Pakistan to work towards improving their communities. Decentralisation should also help law enforcement. The police will benefit from having political institutions to work with in neighborhoods. Building active and engaged networks can aid law enforcement, as well as be on the lookout for suspicious elements such as terrorists or criminals.
Pakistan is getting big. And it is urbanising fast. According to Moeed Yusuf at Brookings Institute, Pakistan is estimated to have the highest urbanisation rate in South Asia – around 50 per cent. With the recent displacement caused by last year’s floods, this process must have been accelerated. Most of the major political parties are rural parties’ not urban parties. A quick survey of the economy’s performance last year shows that despite the floods the rural economy- the wheat, cotton and rice crops- did very well. Cities painted a gloomier picture with problems of crime, pollution, a lack of clean drinking water, terrorism and of course load shedding. The administrative dysfunction and the tremendous rate of urbanisation require elected mayors to deal with problems that are rooted in the city.
On a macro level large infrastructure and trans-city projects will still need to be carried out by the provincial or federal governments. However they will benefit from input from elected city officials. Moreover city officials can compliment programs done on a federal level. Only the federal government can solve the circular debt crisis that ails the power sector, but only elected city officials and mayors can run an effective door to door energy conservation campaign.
Most importantly, LG will lead to further decentralisation of power from the center. Many people complain that democracy has not done any good for Pakistan; the solution to this is more democracy, not less. Admittedly after the 18th Amendment transferring ministries to provinces is still in transition phase but local bodies do not necessarily require ministries to be further devolved, it just means that they will need to coordinate with district nazims which will help their decision making process. It means that ordinary citizens will be given a greater say in administrative decisions.
Jane Jacobs the great American scholar of urban studies, in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities proclaimed, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” Local governments will go a long way in ensuring our cities are created together with all stakeholders involved.
