In April this year, the government rolled out its ambitious plan for the local governments, in the shape of two laws -- the Punjab Local Government Act 2019, and the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act 2019. The idea was to devolve fiscal and administrative powers to the local level, and encourage direct participation of people in local politics. The previous LG system was abolished forthwith, and municipal authority transferred to the district coordination officers (DCOs)/deputy commissioners (DC).

The fact that the DCOs/DCs are now running day-to-day affairs rather the elected representatives of the people has earned the government a lot of criticism from the stakeholders.

For the uninitiated, local governments are multi-purpose bodies meant to deliver a broad range of services in relation to roads, traffic, planning, housing, sanitation, environment, and recreation etc. They are also supposed to maintain the register of electors. However, since April, all services that traditionally fall under the ambit of the local bodies have been halted, causing frustration among the general public.

Former chairperson of Toba Tek Singh district, Fouzia Khalid Warraich tells TNS that there are more than 600 villages and four tehsils in the district. "If the administrator is kind enough to visit a village a day, he would cover the entire district in two years," she says, sarcastically. "That would mean he is incapable and has no administrative support to provide [the said services] to villages that were earlier being looked after by representatives of local bodies. Unfortunately, the villagers are badly hit by the new system."

The Punjab government has set September 25 as the date for de-limiting village and neighbourhood councils, in its first major move towards holding the LG polls. A notification in this regard was issued earlier this month, by Local Government, Secretary, Dr Ahmad Javaid Qazi.

Under the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act 2019, direct, partyless elections will be held across villages and neighbourhood councils. Union councils will be done away with in the provinces. Hence, the timely completion of de-limitation procedure is essential.

Data provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows that there are 25,875 village councils and 2,400 neighbourhood councils in the Punjab. As many as 33 petitions have been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC), since April 2019, against the Punjab Local Government Act 2019, 32 of which are by private individuals, and one by the Local Councils Association of Punjab (LCAP). These petitions challenge the legitimacy of the new law, certain articles in it for being in conflict with the Constitution of Pakistan, the procedure of de-limitation, and the act of abolishing the previous LG system before its term ended.

According to the de-limitation procedure, each of the village and neighbourhood councils would be called a ‘revenue state.’ (The West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967 states that a village consisting of two to three thousand inhabitants would be considered a revenue state.)

According to Warraich, "The government wants to merge the villages that have less than 2,000 people with others. This is unjustified and a violation of the Land Revenue Act of 1967. That is why, we have filed a case in the LHC to seek guidance and justice."

The village and neighbourhood councils’ delimitations have raised concerns amongst mayors and other stakeholders. They are skeptical about the government holding elections at village and neighbourhood levels in the first stage. They fear that the next step in election would be taken after at least six months.

Former Vehari mayor Ghulam Mohyuddin Chishti believes that the government shall allocate sufficient funds to elected representatives to spend on services only to improve its public image, "The government wants to earn some respect for its candidates in the party-based elections to be held for town committees, municipal committees at tehsil levels, municipal corporations at district levels, and metropolitan corporations in big cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Gujranwala."

The new law calls for separate voters’ lists for Muslims and non-Muslims. A petition has been filed against this clause, as the Election Act provides for a single list for all voters.

There are other petitions filed by the former mayors and the LCAP to challenge the government’s decision to abolish the Punjab Local Government Act 2013 before its due expiration time.

LCAP, Provincial Director, Anwar Hussain laments that there has been only one hearing since April. The only progress was a decision that a larger bench would be set up. "The larger bench has been set up twice since then, and dissolved," he says. "The current status of the 33 petitions is static, which is a serious issue especially because the government plans to go ahead with the first phase of election in the months of January and February 2020. All our efforts will be in vain if the court does not entertain the petitions, or if it gives a verdict right ahead of the election day, which would be a huge disappointment. We hope that the court shall play a proactive role in the larger interest of the people of the province."

At the other end of the spectrum, Law Minister Raja Basharat, a former local governments’ minister, is not convinced by the argument that the government has no right to introduce a new law. "This is the new government’s prerogative," he declares, "given the simple majority it enjoys in the [provincial] assembly. The criticism has no solid ground, as the government has followed the due course of law."

Interestingly, the criticism hasn’t come only from the mayors and other stakeholders but also from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In its July 19 statement, the ECP made it clear that the LG polls could not be conducted in the Punjab under the law. "Several clauses of the new law of local councils are in direct conflict with the Representation of Peoples Act 2017," said the ECP.

"Moreover, there are ambiguities regarding the delimitation of constituencies, voters’ lists, and election procedure in the said law."

National Democratic Foundation Chairman and former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary, Kunwar Muhammad Dilshad states that certain articles in the new Punjab Local Government Act 2019 violate Article 140A Local Government of the Constitution of Pakistan. "Certainly, these articles have been written in haste and without seeking legal advice," he adds.

"Under the present law, more than 150,000 councillors shall be elected from 22,500 village councils, but ironically only one returning officer would be responsible for the process. Moreover, the government has introduced two laws for local bodies but they have no legal and administrative connection with each other. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan 2013, the right of de-limitation belongs to the ECP only."

Dilshad also says that the ECP is the only body responsible for conducting elections. "Thus, as per the rules, the provincial government must follow the Elections Act, 2017 in its true spirit.

"The ECP has advised the [Punjab] government to revise the law in accordance with the Elections Act, 2017. The advice of the chief election commissioner must be considered to overcome the lacunae in the new law," he adds.