The day former president Pervez Musharraf was seen off from the President House, the fate of the local governments (LGs) has been hanging in the balance. The forces inspired by provincialism brought the commissioners back, while Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani assured Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that the tenure of local governments would not extend beyond August this year.
Musharraf must have many wrongs associated with him right from usurping power and sending home the popularly elected government of Nawaz Sharif to unseating Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, but the local government system he had introduced and remained concerned with its durability during whole of his tenure, was a step forward towards empowering the people at the grass-roots level.
Under the LG system, bureaucracy at the district level was made subordinate to the elected representatives of the people. The nazims were given vast powers to deal with the law and order and provide basic amenities of life to the grassroots. It’s another matter that in most cases the system failed to deliver, as it remained dependent on the provincial governments, particularly in financial matters.
The powerful commissioners, who enjoyed administrative, fiscal and magisterial powers since the colonial times, were replaced with the district coordinating officers (DCOs), who served as the direct link between the elected nazims and the provincial secretariat. The police too were made answerable to the local government. The integration of the urban and rural areas was another prominent feature of this system.
Before the Partition, the local government system existed only in the Punjab with the specific objective to serve the ends of the British Raj. The members were not elected but handpicked and their main function was to report to the commissioner on the affairs of their respective areas.
Given the vast powers the deputy commissioners enjoyed it was said that in the heaven was the God and on earth was the deputy commissioner. The late presidents Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq revived the system, but the powers of the DC remained intact.
These were the five years of Musharraf rule (since 2002) that the post of commissioners remained abolished. The mainstream political parties opposed the Local Government Ordinance 2001 tooth and nail insisting that it was an effort to consolidate his personal rule by creating loyalties at the local level. So the best pledge they gave was that they would abolish these governments as soon as they were in power. However, the system is in place after one year has passed and these parties are again in power at the federal and provincial level.
The Punjab government, which the PML-N leads, has created enough hurdles to the functioning of the local governments for the reason that the same are being led by the nazims supported by its archrival and the former ruling party, the PML-Q. The most formidable challenge is the choking of local government funds.
The next step constituted the revival of the comissionarate system. The NWFP, Balochistan and Sindh too followed in the footsteps of the Punjab.
The PML-Q and the MQM happen to be the only two political parties which favor the continuation of the local government system. They at the best would want the removal of anomalies in the system rather than abolish it altogether. The two parties have been part of the ruling camp during the Musharraf era.
The PML-Q was defeated in the general elections but the MQM not only retained its strength, but also joined the coalition government at the centre and in Sindh. The two parties are not only opposing the move to abolish the system, but also happen to include the issue in their political agenda.
As per the proposed plan endorsed by Premier Gilani, the local governments will be abolished in August and the administrators will be appointed to look after the affairs. The government does not seem committed to holding the next elections due in October.
The MQM is pressuring its coalition partner – the PPP – with the result that the Sindh government has requested the centre to extend the tenure of local governments for another one year. The government has not responded to the call but the premier has publicly supported the PML-N’s demand to abolish the system.
The issue of local government system is not an ordinary one because many politicians have turned to local politics due to the powers and prestige associated with it. The lack of constitutional cover, bureaucracy’s power and provincialism are some of the important factors that will determine the fate of the local government system.
There are more dangers and threats to the government which seems more than willing to scrap the local government system than what appears to be right now. The politics of devolution is the need of the hour, as centralization has harmed the federation more than anything else.
The growing population and the large distances between the power centers need to be bridged by creating more centers of power. Needless to say, reversing the devolution of power will be a step backward and the victory of the reactionary forces that have denied the people their right to decide their own fate.
If the government revives the old system, the only alternative left with it would be to divide the provinces that are large enough to attend to the problems of the people. Deputy commissioners, the hardheaded bureaucrats, can’t decide the fate of the 170 million people. The divisional administration can’t be left without any political check.
