After about a decade and several Supreme Court orders, the three-phased local government elections are finally underway in Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Similar to other elections in the country’s history, these polls have also been marred by a low voter turnout due to volatile security situation during Muharram, clashes between supporters of opposition parties, mismanagement of the voting process and allegations of rigging. These controversies have somewhat dampened the sentiment around these polls.
Held under the 2001 Local Government Ordinance, these local government elections called for devolution of powers to the district level. It was believed that this step would strengthen democracy and stability in Pakistan by encouraging the ordinary people to step forward in politics and implement government programs in their areas. Local governments are, in particular, of great importance to the generally backward areas as they often suffer from neglect of state authorities. Accessibility of elected locals to the general public should expedite the problem-resolution process and expedite development in these areas. However, the formation of governments at district level has so far failed to yield the desired results.
There has been a lukewarm response to this concept of power decentralization from the country’s growing middle class. The educated segment of society has once again chosen to largely stay away from this political process, putting into question the competence of elected representatives and effectiveness of local governments. Lack of interest from a wide section of the general public stems from low understanding level of the local government system and its implications on their lives. Lackluster performance of civil servants and rampant corruption in public institutions has created distrust and apprehensions about the system of democracy in Pakistan.
Therefore, many, view these polls as a futile exercise only meant to strengthen bureaucracy in the country rather than acting as a catalyst of change. Fearing powers of these local setups, the provincial governments have already tried to sabotage them by restricting their decision-making powers in critical civil matters and budget allocation on development projects. These selfish tactics by the legislators are likely to strangle the local governments, making them dependent on state assemblies to create real impact in the society.
The system in Pakistan to execute transfer of autonomy and power to grassroots is far from perfect, but at least the wheels have started moving after a long gap. For a start, there is a need to create more awareness about the effect of these polls on the overall administrative structure of macro-level government. An elected government can only be successful if ordinary people associate with it and back it to undertake development initiatives that lead to prosperity in the society. It is also imperative that national and provincial legislators focus only on drafting laws instead of meddling into the affairs of local governments to curb their powers.
A local government is an integral part of any democratic system. Such form of power setup encourages participation and election of local representatives to run financial and administrative affairs of their respective areas. After all, in its true spirit, democracy is for the people and by the people. Despite the shortcomings, these local government polls should be seen with cautious optimism and herald a new chapter in Pakistan’s long road to embracing democratic ideals.
