Challenges to Local Governance in Pakistan

Local bodies are basic building blocks of governance. Being closest and easily approachable to the
common man, these bodies are widely considered the ultimate governance instrument for solving most
basic problems, addressing small-scale development needs and community welfare, hence infusing in
the masses a sense of ownership for these bodies. For effective, efficient and representative local
governance, local government elections play a very vital role. There exists, therefore, a need to analyze
the interplay among problems in local bodies’ elections, their adverse effects on formation of efficient
local bodies and the resultant challenges to local governance in the country.
Governance structure in Pakistan has historically been two-tiered, federal and provincial, with
introduction of the third tier i.e. local bodies, only occasionally and intermittently. However, with the
introduction of the 18th Constitutional Amendment in 2010, local governments (hereinafter LG) have to
be a permanent tier in country’s governance structure under Article 140A of the Constitution of Pakistan,
1973, which enunciates:

“(1)    Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political,
administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local
governments.

However, devolution of power to the third tier and an effective local governance system require a number
of measures to be taken at different levels and stages. Many of the challenges to effective local
governance come from underlying flaws in LG elections, which lead to questions being raised now on the
very justification and legitimacy of local governments in some cases and hence contribute in impeding the
envisaged benefits of local governance from reaching the common man.

Elections for local bodies, like other elections, depend heavily on the legal framework provided for them.
The legal structure not only answers fundamental questions, such as whether the elections would be
party-based or otherwise, whether the top positions of local bodies would be elected directly or indirectly,
the composition and hierarchy of local bodies etc., but also outlines appropriate parameters for fair play,
and redressal of grievances if the spirit of fair play is violated.
Issues with legal framework could arise from two directions: first is the quality of laws, rules and
regulations i.e. whether they are comprehensive, cover all aspects and can stand the test of practical
challenges while the second is the extent to which these laws are implemented in their true spirit and
stakeholders’ acceptance and abidance of the same.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is an independent body constituted under Article 218 of the
Constitution. Appointments of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Members of the ECP are
made through a consultative and parliamentary process as per Article 213. Under the 22nd Constitutional
Amendment, which was passed in June 2016, civil servants as well as the technocrats too can be
appointed as CEC and members of ECP, in addition to serving or retired judges of the superior courts.
The CEC and members of ECP serve a five-year term constitutionally secured under Article 215. Hence,
the ECP is independent, carries confidence of both the government and the opposition and is legally free
from any influence or pressure. ECP also has complete financial and administrative autonomy in its
functions; it has been constitutionally authorized to set up tribunals for hearing petitions against alleged
electoral irregularities, the executive authorities are also obliged by the Constitution to assist ECP in
discharge of its functions and now it has been empowered also to carry out delimitation for local bodies’
elections.

The ECP issued code of conduct for LG polls in the four provinces. Albeit minor changes in codes of
conduct issued from time to time, common points in all of those included emphasis on political
parties/candidates to openly condemn violence, menace of terrorism; bar on expressing views against the
ideology of Pakistan, its stability/sovereignty, judiciary’s independence and armed forces’ reputation, etc.
The codes called upon parties and candidates to desist from steps that might encourage crimes like
bribing voters or intimidating them; capped campaign expense limit at Rs. 200,000; barred opposition of
and criticism on any candidate based on religion, caste or ethnicity, and banned the publication of
advertisements by the federal and provincial governments in newspapers or through other media outlets
for convincing voters. As per ECP data, a total of 3,881 complaints were received from all four provinces
and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) out of which 3,877 were disposed of. However, media carried
many news items in which aggrieved parties and complainants were not satisfied with the way ECP
disposed of the complaints and hence they moved courts against the ECP decisions, making results of
many UCs and other bodies controversial. ECP’s own data show that show-cause notices to only about
150 alleged violators were issued which being less than half a percent of the total complaints received
portrays an overwhelming systematic tilt in favour of the alleged violators. Poll campaign expenses in
most cases exceeded well above Rs. 200,000 limit but no data are available if ECP took any action on
these violations. Similarly, most of the other conditions such as propaganda, derogatory remarks against
opponents, size limit of banners, bar on use of hoardings, use of loudspeakers, wall chalking, government
ads in media, were violated but no record is made available by the ECP if any fines were imposed or
disqualifications made on these violations.

Under Article 140A (1) of the Constitution, separate laws were promulgated for LGs in four provinces
and ICT. A comparative analysis of local government laws points to various lacunas, such as unspecified,
or below par, allocation of seats for women, minorities and youth; non-devolution of important
functions/institutions (such as revenue-generating civic bodies); slow process of devolution of power;
Party Block Vote system i.e. the party or independent panel winning at UC level fills all seats on the
respective body; and party-proportional mechanism for reserved seats.

While legal framework outlines how the elections should be held, it is the administrative framework that
sets out how elections are actually held. Administrative shortcomings in local governance are diverse,
broad and pervasive, so much so that volumes can be written only on administrative issues. Major issues
include absence of objective criteria for selection of election staff, lack of proper training for them and
delimitation that fails to establish equality of vote across all constituencies.

Sociopolitical issues with LG elections and local governance are most critical – yet most neglected – of
all. The very fact that LGs have not been a permanent feature of Pakistan’s governance structure signifies
the rather passive approach of the political parties toward local bodies. It is widely believed that political
elite view local bodies as potential challengers to their political dominance and a diluting factor for their
political grip in the constituencies. This negative approach toward local governments manifests in a
number of ways, prominent of which have been analyzed subsequently.
Establishment of local bodies became a constitutional requirement in the year 2010; however, LGs were
not made functional until many years later. Balochistan was first to enact LG law in 2010 and
subsequently to hold elections in December 2013. The other three provinces did not enact LG laws until
2013 and they held elections in late 2015 – and that too after a number of orders by the superior courts.
Almost all political parties, one way or the other, appeared united on delaying LG elections as much as
they could, and this fact made their passive approach to LGs even more evident.
Pakistan has seen concentration of political, social and economic power in a few conglomerate families
over the years. These families seem to call the shots in country’s major political parties. Therefore, after
delaying LG elections and negating the devolution of powers to the local bodies, these parties took steps
to ensure that all important positions of local bodies, such as mayors, chairmen and their deputies, are
taken by people loyal and committed to them. While there is nothing wrong with it from a legal
perspective, this practice strongly undermines the spirit of devolution of powers to the grassroots levels as
the common man remains deprived of due representation at the higher levels of LGs.

Non-implementation of the code of conduct for the elections is an administrative problem of serious
concern. Even more serious is the sociopolitical dimension of the problem i.e. the sheer defiance and lack
of respect among all major political parties for the code of conduct. Based on the social trends, it can be
argued that many candidates intentionally defied the code as a symbol of their strength, to intimidate their
opponents and voters and to openly challenge authority of the ECP, which is definitely not a healthy sign.
The defiance was not just at the individual candidates’ level rather a large number of complaints to ECP
on violation of the code were against federal/provincial governments, government functionaries,
departments and organizations, ranging from Prime Minister’s Kissan Package, announcement of
development schemes, fund release for development projects and participation by ministers,
parliamentarians and other public office holders in election-related events.
LG laws in all four provinces provide for reserved seats for women. However these reserve seats not only
conceal the true magnitude of the lack of women’s participation in country’s political system but also is a
problem in itself – women’s election on reserve seats is based on party-proportional basis on the choice of
party bigwigs, almost all of who are men and at the same time it almost eliminates chances for election of
women on general, open competition seats, for many in political parties believe that women have
sufficient share through reserve seats and there is no need for them to compete on general seats.
Moreover, women are not allowed to place their banners, are made fun of by remarks such as “how will
she help if there is a problem in the locality at midnight, how will she go to thana katchehri.” In addition,
there have been reports that women were barred from voting in many parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Balochistan. Apart from this deliberate exclusion of women, turnout of females in elections is much lower
as compared with the males. All combined, these practices effectively seclude 50% of our population
from the voting process, which has very negative consequences for establishment of local governments
that are the true representative of the population.
Politics in Pakistan has increasingly become a costly affair over the years and LG elections are no
exception. Overwhelming majority of country’s population consists of poor, lower middle and middle
income households; however, their presence in all elected bodies, including local bodies, is negligible.
Apart from dominance of strong political families explained above, wealth of a candidate and strong
fraternity (biradari, tribe, clan) are the decisive factors in most of the cases – wealth in higher and more
important levels of local bodies while fraternities at the grassroots levels. The wealthy exploit loopholes
in the electoral system, use money for buying votes, garner support from influential families/personalities,
do better publicity and campaigning and hence gain undue advantage over others. This trend is
counterproductive in the sense that the LGs so formed are not true representatives of the population at
large and the wealthy elected representatives are neither aware of the real problems facing the
impoverished majority nor interested in solving those. Similarly, candidates from more populous and
socially dominant fraternities have an edge over other candidates in the elections, which not only limits
their representative base but also tends to make them biased in favour of their fraternity in development
works in the post-election scenario.

The logical question is: what’s next? First is better legal framework for local bodies’ elections and
stronger implementation mechanism. On administrative side, ECP should introduce objective criteria for
selection of election staff at all levels. A pool of officers/officials can be drawn from government well in
advance of elections, adequately trained to perform duties during elections and groomed to act neutral,
courageous and composed during any untoward incident. ECP must ensure strict abidance of code of
conduct for the elections by imposing fines, disqualifying the violators in accordance with law – setting
examples to provide level playing field to all candidates irrespective of their wealth and social standing.
Delimitation procedure should be made transparent and effective by establishing an independent
mechanism for periodic review of boundaries such that constituencies are equalized and equality of vote
is established. Updated data of voter registration should be used for this purpose.

To overcome sociopolitical issues with local bodies’ elections, rule of law and better administration are
prerequisites. Important, however, is to create awareness among the public about significance of LGs for
their betterment, importance of voting for candidates based on good reputation, competence and
motivation to serve rather than wealth and social connections. For this, special units should be included in
textbooks of all classes, regular advertisements should be aired on electronic media and road shows
should be organized in rural areas. Mode of this educative content should not be conventional advising
rather it should be appealing to the masses such as comparison of two imaginary villages, with
significantly better situation of the village in which people voted for right candidates and allowed women
to participate as compared to the village where people voted for rich candidates of a particular biradari,
tribe or clan.
Introduction
Local Governance means “Building stronger communities”. Institutions play an important role in
establishing the local government system.  Local institutions means, “sub – units” at the public
level to which the government gives some authorities so that they may be able to solve the local
problems with the local resources.

There are three levels of government: local, state and federal level. Local government is the first
level and is responsible for matters close to local communities. Sub-national institutions
comprise of one of the most important opportunity for poor people, minorities and women to
contribute in the development of their communities and influence the decision-making processes
that are directly relevant to their lives. Important opportunities for poor people, women and
minorities to participate in the development of their communities are to be found in local
institutions of governance. The basic services for citizens are provided by local governments.
Basically, their aim is to improve their capacity and ability to become better administrators.
Through local governance government can promote peace and reconciliation at the local level.
They can avoid conflict and promote trust into programs and services.

Local government system is very important for the establishment of democracy at grass-root
level. The regime of Gen. Pervez Musharaf, introduced the local government system. This
system of local government was implemented on August 14, 2001. The essence of introducing
the local government was to strengthen the people at lower level and to transfer power from
representatives to the masses. The system of local government was projected to solve people’s
problem at the local level, allow public involvement in decision-making and make sure the
provision of speedy justice. The main purpose of this system was that the local governments
would be accountable to the citizens for all their decisions. It would allow the proactive elements
of society to participate in community work, development related activities and would remove
rural-urban divide. The new local government plan was an endeavor on part of the Military
Government to lay the foundations of a durable and stable democracy. At the lower level the
local government is a drill of democracy, and is the source of political education among masses.

Local Government system in Pakistan:

The history of local government elections inside Pakistan started from the regime of General
Ayub Khan (1959-1969). In 1959, he issued an ordinance through which non-party local
government “basic democracy” elections were held. In developing countries like Pakistan these
institutions represent the powers of local groups. Zia-ul-Haq, after coming into power, reviewed
the system of local government and established this system on strong footings, which progressed
step by step. Local government ordinance (2001), Devolution Plan set up the National
Reconstruction Bureau as a think tank. Its mission was to establish the real democracy in the
country with the help of reconstructing the institutions of state.
The present local government system was introduced in 2001, during the regime of General
Pervez Musharaf for developing the democracy for strong supremacy with another objective of
transferring power to the representative of the people. For this purpose, National Reconstruction
Bureau (NRB) was established on 18 November, 1999. This bureau was working on
reinstallation of institutions that were shaped under the local government system. The devolution
programmed in Pakistan was established in five phases. During these phases elections started
from the smaller districts towards the larger cities and districts. It was believed that each phase
would improve the implementation of every coming phase.

In the first phase the elections were held on 31st December, 2000 in the eight districts of Punjab,
three districts of Sindh, four districts of K.P.K. and three districts of Baluchistan. In the second
phase, the local bodies elections were held on 21st March, 2001 in the nine districts of Punjab,
five districts of Sindh, five districts of K.P.K. and one district of Baluchistan. In the third phase,
the local bodies elections were held on 31st May, 2001 in the districts of Punjab including
Faisalabad district, two districts of Sindh, one district of K.P.K. and five districts of Baluchistan.
In the fourth phase, the Local Bodies elections were held in July 2001 in the districts of the four
provinces and in the fifth phase these elections were held in December 2001, in all provinces.
The current local government was shaped particularly to fulfill the requirements of the districts.
Local governments were formed at three levels: district, town and the union. District government
consists of district (Zila) Nazim and district Naib Nazim, an elected body and its administrative
structures. For the more active involvement of people in the community development of grass
roots organizations were established such as village councils/ neighborhood councils and citizen
community boards.

Political structure & system

Since August 2001 it had been a period of transition as well consolidation. The local government
representative and elected Nazim’s relationship with MNAs/MPAs was a very difficult one.
Miss-collaboration was created due to this new political structure. The local government
ordinance, 2001 had developed political power and decentralized administrative and financial
authority for good governance and effective delivery of services through institutionalized
participation of the people at grass roots level.

 
Local Governance and Decentralization
Local governance indicators may inform local policy and strengthen local accountability. Local
governance assessment may also be useful at a national level in order to enhance decentralization
policies, strengthen capacities and contrast trends across cities or districts.

Local governance assessments can be useful for:

 Capturing gaps and constraints in policy implementation.

 Identifying specific capacity building needs and monitoring results of capacity building
efforts.
 Formulating change plans and soliciting donor or peer assistance for improving specific
aspects of governance.
 Creating a platform to involve civil society and the private sector in local governance.
 Providing an objective account of achievements of local elected leaders, especially at
times of re-elections, and thus building accountability.
        

       
Case Study; Structural Analysis of Karachi

 In 1947, Pakistan became an independent country, Karachi was chosen as the capital of
Pakistan. During this period, the city offered shelter to a huge bulk of migrants and refugees
that came from the Indian province. In 1960, the capital of Pakistan was first moved to
Rawalpindi and then to Islamabad. Nevertheless, Karachi never lost its importance as the
economic centre of Pakistan. The Municipal Corporation of Karachi was upgraded to
Metropolitan Corporation in 1976. Again on 14th August 2001, City District Government of
Karachi was reorganized in 18 town administrations and 178 union councils.
Structural Analysis of provincial assemblies from year 2001 to 2012
Devolution of Power Plan was presented by Pervez Musharraf in 2000. This policy was for the
reconstruction of local government. It was a plan to transfer the evolution of power and
“responsibility” to the grass roots level. The basic principle of the Devolution Plan was that the
local government would function clearly within the provincial framework. For the strong local
government system, the Provincial Local Government Ordinance, 2001 was included for a period
of six months in the sixth schedule of the constitution. Amendment in ordinance can be made by
the president after discussion with the prime minister. Though the devolution of power,
responsibility and decentralization of authority was a permanent development and convincing
improvement in the delivery of services at the district level, it would increase the image and
efficiency of governments at the grass roots level. Because it was an important factor of good
governance to provide justice.

The local government was based on five ground rules:

 Devolution of political power

 Decentralization of administrative authority
 De-concentration of management functions
 Diffusion of the power – authority nexus
 Distribution of sources
In August, 2001 elections were held under the new local government ordinance. Elected local
governments had been successfully setup at all tiers. The local governments had also
successfully completed their tenure and new elections of local governments were then held in the
year 2005. Under the provincial ordinances, however, twice elections were held in all the
provinces in years 2002 and 2005, on non-party basis.

Political parties were actively involved in the elections at every stage – selecting candidates,
campaigning and polling in Karachi. After the elections all parties had also expressed their views
to the conduct of the elections. The ruling PML and MQM described the local government
elections as a genuine democratic exercise which will strengthen participatory governance and
the federal cabinet described election as 90 per cent free, fair and transparent with only 8-10 per
cent complaints about irregularities. The opposition also demanded for resignation of the
government for rigging in the local government election 2005.

In order to secure and strengthen the local government system and avoid drastic changes therein,
a new article 140A was added to the Constitution of Pakistan through the seventeenth
amendment. By virtue of that addition, it was provided that each province shall, by law, establish
a local government ordinance, 2001 system of local government and devolve political,
administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local
governments. This provision was supplemented by adding another provision through the
eighteenth amendment to the constitution, to the effect that the future elections of local
governments shall be conducted by the Election Commission of Pakistan instead of Provincial
Election Commissions. But after the expiry of the terms of local governments in December,
2009, the new elected provincial governments openly expressed their intention to repeal the 2001
ordinances and introduce new legislation on the subject.

In view thereof, holding of local government elections were postponed on one ground or the
other. No doubt that there were certain administrative problems in implementation of the local
government system under 2001 ordinances, but those could be removed by making minor
changes in the statutes. Furthermore, there was hidden jealousy amongst national and provincial
legislators who were against the devolution of their powers, particularly in development work to
the local governments. Above all, the bureaucracy which had, due to absence of non-elected
governments for a long period, become very strong did not like the divesting of their powers to
the elected representatives of the people. The province of Sindh initially revived the 1979 law
and then replaced it with Sindh Peoples’ Local Government Act, 2012, and once again replaced
it in 2013, with Sindh Local Government Act.

 
Responsibilities of District Government
According to the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 the provincial local government
commission   distributes some functions and responsibilities to the district government.

Political gaps from year 2013 to 2015:

After the general elections of 2013, the local government act and elections have been a major
issue, the bone of contention between MQM and rest of Sindh.

On August 19th 2013, the Sindh assembly passed the Sindh local government bill 2013 as per
their wishes. But the Sindh provincial government failed to consent and satisfy MQM on the
newly formulated local government bill, so the disagreement came between the two biggest
ruling parties of Sindh.

If we analyze the local government system implemented during the Musharraf regime without
any doubts the local body act 2001 delivered par performance to the people of urban Sindh
including Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas and Nawabshah. The main purpose of that act was to
 strengthen the common elected man and transfer the power to the grass-roots level. A lot of work
has been done in Karachi by Naimatullah Khan the mayor of Karachi from August 2001 to June
2005 during Musharraf’s tenure when most of the projects were proposed and approved. Money
was allocated and projects initiated. Mr. Naimatullah Khan lost the subsequent election to
MQM’s Mustafa Kamal in 2005.

The debate between MQM and rest of the Sindh assembly is on the two bills. One was local
body ordinance 1979, which is amended by PPP and their allies, approved as a local body bill
2013 and the other being the local government act 2001, passed in the Musharraf era. They also
argue to come up with a new bill that gives power to the people.

Recommendations:

 Clarify which provisions of the representation of people apply to local government polls
in Sindh, especially the aspects which remain undefined by the provincial law.
 Uphold constitutionally permitted independence of the ECP by empowering it, rather
than the government, to make the rules.
 Give ECP the powers to appoint returning officers and revise the law to clarify the timing
of their appointment, setting up of polling stations and issuance of voters’ lists.
 Provide more than 15 days to train polling staff and publish a list of officials before the
election.
 Amend the law to indicate the election system and the basis for deciding the number of
members of any elected body.
 Consider a direct popular election system.
 Explain how panels would be formed and operated.
 Limit government powers to change the number of members of a committee.
 Specify the utmost timeframe between elections and electing members to reserved seats.