Empower the local

Pakistan has seldom enjoyed a fully functional local government system. In most cases, military dictators were more interested in installing a local-bodies mechanism that could serve their own nefarious designs rather than actually building ‘basic democracy’ as General Ayub Khan loved to call his concoction of public participation.

The way dictators support local government helps them build a sense of legitimacy and a facade of democracy. Gen Yahya Khan dispensed with the system Ayub Khan had introduced and then refused to hand over power to the largest political party that had won a clear majority in the first general elections in the country’s history in 1970. The then prime minister Z A Bhutto could have established a local government system but he preferred not to have one. Gen Zia butchered democracy in Pakistan but managed to give a semblance of public participation through his own system of local bodies.

The 1990s was a decade when democracy was scuttled time and again and Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif spent more time in bringing each other down, and in the process democracy suffered. General Musharraf introduced his own LG system that was effective to a great extent but at the same time nurtured a new elite and crop of political leaders at the local level who could provide much-needed support to the general. In the end, Musharraf was a dictator and did more harm to democracy than he did any good to local governance.

In the post-Musharraf decade, the successive governments of the PPP and PML-N showed little interest in empowering local bodies anywhere in the country. In the past 14 years, there have been political governments in power but all of them tried to deprive local administrations of their right to manage local affairs. This has resulted in a paralyzed local government structure that is not allowed to function properly. From Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Punjab and Sindh, all provincial governments have been pretending to be working on a better LG system with multiple amendments to the laws governing local governments.

Balochistan is a province deprived of its due share in development. It has suffered from several military operations, and has had provincial governments that could hardly be termed as representative. Though manipulations in all elections are rampant across Pakistan, Balochistan has experienced much more interference from the powers that should have remained apolitical all along. This interference has resulted in elections that mostly spawn a new breed each time that is more loyal than the previous one. Local bodies in Balochistan are also not as representative as they should be. Elections end up as a farce and the LG system becomes more loyal than the king.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the PTI has experimented with its own devices in the local government but all indications are that the system is rotten to the core. The PTI has no love lost for democracy or its proper functioning at any level. So it does not even talk about democracy, rather it repeats the good old narrative of corruption that has served it well. The local governments in KP are as powerless as ever and the provincial government still calls the shots. The provincial ministers and MPAs do not want to share power and the local bodies remain paralyzed.

Punjab has been no better in the past decade. Two successive governments of the PML-N failed to introduce a functional and empowered LG system in the province. Shehbaz Sharif remained chief minister of Punjab for a decade from 2008 to 2018 but it never occurred to him that power should be devolved to the local level. The PML-N developed its own LG law whereby it snatched most powers from the local government. Apart from cleanliness and development in Lahore they showed little interest in developing local government structures across Punjab.

Finally, perhaps the worst case has been that of Sindh. The PPP is a relatively liberal and slightly centre-left party with solid credentials for democratic struggle. But when it comes to local bodies, the PPP fails to strike a chord. The ethnic dimension of politics in Sindh has further fueled the fire of discontent. Despite efforts, somehow the divide has remained there. Z A Bhutto did a lot for Karachi but failed to make a dent in the city – which in 1977 clearly sided with the PNA.

Benazir Bhutto also tried to mend fences with the MQM that had emerged by the late 1980s as the single largest representative party of the Urdu-speaking population in Hyderabad and Karachi. Irrespective of the causes behind the rise of the MQM, the PPP was ready to work with it. But Altaf Husain had other plans. His inclination towards use of violence against anyone who opposed the MQM has become legendary. The first government of the PML-N in 1990 and the second government of the PPP in 1993 willing or unwilling had to launch operations against the MQM that further alienated the people of Karachi from mainstream parties at the centre.

General Musharraf’s illegal and unconstitutional takeover of the country in a military coup in 1999 was a boon for the JI and then for the MQM in Karachi. First Naimatullah Khan and then Mustafa Kamal enjoyed unparalleled power in Karachi. From 2008 onwards when the PPP assumed office in Islamabad and in Sindh, once again the PPP made efforts to work with the MQM. Though the PPP could form its government in Sindh independently, it offered ministerial positions to the MQM. The coalition could not last long as the MQM kept complaining of a lack of authority in making decisions.

In a major about-turn, the PPP decided to make major changes in the LG system by depriving city and district administrations of most of their powers. That was a wrong step that may have served a purpose or two for the PPP leadership but it did tremendous harm to local government and its functioning. For the past 14 years, there has not been a well-oiled local administration in most cities of Sindh including Karachi and Hyderabad.

Karachi in particular has been suffering from an unjust treatment with nearly no representation of its representatives in provincial or local governments. The recent appointment of Kamran Tissori as the governor of Sindh is another example of a wrong choice. Though he has been appointed at the behest of the MQM which claims to be representative of Karachi, the appointment shows that the MQM itself has lost its bearings and its grip on the affairs of Karachi. Blaming the MQM or the PPP alone is not fair either. Non-political forces interfering in local and provincial political matters for decades have also played their undue role.

Now the upcoming LG elections are a good opportunity to fix things and bring people together. But without substantial changes in the existing LG laws in Sindh, no new local administration will be able to deliver results. The PTI, which claimed to be an alternative to the older parties, has also miserably failed to impress. Karachi has a pathetic municipal service, broken roads and trash all over. Now both the MQM and PPP must work together to move forward and establish a functioning LG system in the province. Cooperation is the only way forward.

The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK. He tweets @NaazirMahmood and can be reached at:

mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk