Adil Najam
In a dramatic but not entirely unexpected move, the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani has announced that all Local Bodies have been dissolved and the forthcoming Local elections have been postponed because of the law and order situation. Administrators will be appointed by the Provincial governments from the bureaucracy to replace Nazims until elections are held.
Meanwhile, according to APP, the Prime Minister also announced that the decision of appointing administrators did not mean that the local government system would be abolished. “It has been unanimously agreed by the provinces that administrators will be appointed and the local bodies elections will be held after the law and order situation improves,” he added.
In a decision with deep developmental implications, the twice-postponed national census was also postponed – yet again.
According to a report in The News that did not hide its own views on the issue:
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani announced dissolving the local governments throughout the country and postponed local bodies elections till improvement in the law and order situation. The decision would mean an effective return to the old ways of bureaucratic bigwigs lording over the masses, who would once again have no influence or say in the management of matters at the grassroots level.
The prime minister said non-political administrators would replace elected Nazims from August. He also revived the executive magistracy system in the country. “A decision to this effect has unanimously been taken by all the provinces and now I would consult the president on the subject and a decision is expected within four weeks,†he said while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday after chairing an Inter-Provincial Coordination meeting at the Prime Minister Secretariat.
Flanked by Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP chief ministers, governor of the NWFP, Punjab Provincial Minister for Local Government Dost Muhammad Khosa and Chief Executive of Northern Areas and Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, the prime minister said it was also decided to postpone census till the end of the year. “We will take up this issue again by the end of the current year to review the situation in the country, as the NWFP government has requested to this effect as it is hard to hold census in the province due to insurgency in some areas of the province,†he said. The premier said there was demand that census should be held by the Army to ensure its transparency but the Army is engaged against militants. The prime minister said the government had also decided to postpone the local government elections till a favourable environment and to amend the Police Order 2002.
“The local government elections could not be held due to prevailing law and order situation in the country as there is insurgency in the NWFP and whenever there is an environment conducive for an election exercise it would be held,†he said. Gilani said the administrators would be non-political people and the provincial government would appoint them from the bureaucracy. “The appointment of the administrators is the prerogative of the provincial governments as we believe in the provincial autonomy,†he added.
He, however, said competent and neutral government officers would be appointed as administrators. He said there was consensus among the provinces that the magistracy system should be revived and for this necessary amendments would be made to the law. He said it was also decided in the meeting to amend the Police Order 2002 in the light of demands of the provincial governments according to the Constitution. He said in this regard, the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) and ministries concerned would be taken on board for formulating recommendations.
Asked whether the government would hold the local government elections on party basis or non-party basis, the prime minister replied the PPP in its election manifesto had clearly taken the line of party-based local government elections but the holding of the local government elections was a prerogative of the provincial governments and it was up to them to decide the mode of the elections. When asked about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s opposition to dissolving the local governments, he said the Sindh chief minister would take them into confidence on the consensus decision of all the four chief ministers.
How do you react to this development and what it means for democracy and devolution in Pakistan. Was this necessary? Good? Bad? Or outright Ugly?
Faiz Ahmed Faiz never gets dated. He would always be relevant in Paksitan:
Hum Jeetay ji masroof rahay
Kuch ishq kiya, kuch kaam kiya
Kaam ishq kay aaRay aata raha
Aur ishq say kaam ulajhta raha
Phir aakhir tang aa kar hum nay
Daunon ko adhoora choR diya
The Local Government system was essentially democratic. The fact that politics in Pakistan is essentially corrupt and politicians at all levels seek only benefits for themselves, and not the awam is not the fault of the LG system.
Now, local governments have been dissolved and the old British comissioner system,whose mission was to centralize power and control people, has been brought back. IMHO it would have been better to improve the LG system and close any gaps in it.
Democracy in most countries means they move forward, except in Pakistan, where it means the country goes backwards. Oh well this is what people voted for in Feb 2008.
A couple of comments:
First, the local government dissolution was widely expected. With the exception of the MQM, all leading political parties supported the return of a district commissioner, etc. The MQM’s views on this have little to do with intrinsic support for devolution or ideals that the dispersion of power to the grassroots forms the bedrock of democracy, but simply on the cold political calculation that a local government in Karachi and Hyderabad gives them executive control over urban Sindh, which they will never achieve in a system where power is concentrated in the provinces or the center.
My own personal views on this matter are of disappointment. Based on what I’ve read in the press over the last few years, and my own experiences, the local government system has had mixed results since it’s implementation. Ayaz Amir, for instance, has been very critical of the Nazim structure in Punjab, citing numerous incidents of corruption and bad governance. In many rural areas, the local government has simply served as another position of power for local (often fuedal) elites. As a result, the devolution of power didn’t really accomplish any tangible change. It is worth noting that most of the debate surrounding this issue has occurred without any publicized data analysis or scholarly study. Has any academic or research organization carried out any surveys of education enhancement or law and order changes, after the devolution plan was put in place? If so, they should be made accessible to the public, so as to greater inform the public discourse. Only if we have a scholarly study will we be able to tell if the system was successful.
On a more anecdotal note, in Karachi, the devolution of governance, although imperfect, does appear to have had a beneficial impact. Although the Nazim’s frequent television appearances do not necessarily translate into development work, unlike much of our bureaucracy, he does give the appearance of trying to solve the city’s problems. At the very least, that’s an improvement over the previous situation.
Finally, a comment about the article from The News cited above. In my opinion, more than any other newspaper in Pakistan, The News blurs the line between reporting and opinion, and really calls into question the objectivity of their journalism. Look at the article cited above. It’s news mixed in with the writer’s opinion in an unabashed manner. This is not an isolated incident. Read any of Ansar Abbasi’s articles. Or Imran Khan’s articles published in the news section when they are clearly nothing more than political propaganda. We love to blame Fox News for injecting their political views into news reporting, but sometimes I wish we were as demanding and critical of our own media when they exhibit a clear bias.
There is some merit to postponing elections as law enforcement people are stretched too thin right now.
But on the other hand effective local bodies chosen at small constituency level are the basis of democracy and may provide a counter balance to insurgency by empowering people at gali/mohalla/village level.
I don;t know my thoughts are divided on this issue.
Another question is why not let current set-up work till next elections? Why appoint administrators and who will choose the administrators by the way? Is there a legal/constitutional limit to how long one elected government can work? If yes, then I take back my argument against administrators otherwise in my opinion present govts should’ve continued to work till next elections time
I do not believe that ‘sarkari afsar’ which will be appointed as administrators will be unbiased and will be free to work without any political pressure. Most likely these guys will be chosen by the ruling party.
PPP did the same in their first govt term too. They ran country’s largest municipality by a PPP appointed administrator.