Even though the 18th Amendment raised Local Government as a necessary third tier of government in the constitution for the first time in Pakistan’s history, Punjab has had a representative Local Government for barely three years since. Instead, Local Governments (LG) have been sent packing by various provincial governments, and the Supreme Court’s (delayed) decision to uphold LG as a constitutional right was practically ignored by provincial politicians, even at the cost of contempt.
Thus, a single line on LG in the constitution is not enough. But more importantly, until there is an organised citizen demand, a functional representative LG would remain a pipe dream in most provinces, as both provincial politicians and the (federal and provincial) bureaucracy are not inclined towards it because it negates their power. Indeed, the two main political parties (PMLN & PTI) in Punjab have mostly spent their time changing the existing LG law, effectively delaying LG elections.
The implications of not having LG are extensive. For example, more than 60% of drinking water in Lahore, the city where the Punjab government have spent the most money, is not drinkable, while the water, sewerage, and solid waste situation is much worse in other cities, towns, and villages. This alienates people from the state and is an important reason for not paying taxes.
Similarly, it alienates people from political parties, as a councillor is much more accessible to the people, representing only a few thousand voters, against 750,000 for an MNA and 250,000 for an MPA. Thus, without LG, there can neither be pro-poor politics, as the working class cannot afford to run for provincial seats, nor can political parties be strengthened through new and trained leadership aware of grassroots issues. Instead, without LG, the whole political system is dumbed down, as provincial parliamentarians act like LG representatives rather than legislating, while receiving development funds meant for LG, for their constituencies.
It is no surprise then that the Chief Minister of Punjab seems more like the Mayor of Lahore than the chief executive of 120 million people. Further, my own interviews with school principals and government officers in the departments of Literacy, School Education & others highlight the lack of elected local government as one of the most important impediments in tackling out-of-school children and child labour.
Even a directly elected mayor would not be able to provide services to the citizens because of a lack of authority, as well as resources
In short, an unelected LG means that the agency and energies of millions of citizens are disregarded, leaving democracy meaningless and development impossible. This is attested by the European experience, where LG had a much greater impact in improving life expectancy than medicines. Similarly, competition among Local Governments is highlighted as a critical factor in the rise of China, as argued by Professor Keyu Jin, the author of The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism.
Scholars suggest that just having LG is not enough. Instead, LG needs to have the right design to be effective. It needs to have sufficient resources and revenue to fulfil its responsibilities, and the head of LG requires executive powers over all institutions tasked with these responsibilities. From this perspective, our LG design is flawed, as local governments in Pakistan generate only 5% of their expenses while being dependent on the provinces for 95%. For example, the transport, water, and other public service subsidies in Lahore amount to Rs. 40B, while the district government collects only Rs. 6B in taxes. Similarly, due to the involvement of various authorities and companies, including the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), WASA, Punjab Mass Transit Authority, and Defence Housing Authority, the urban governance of Lahore is fragmented. Thus, even a directly elected mayor would not be able to provide services to the citizens because of a lack of authority as well as resources.
Rural area LGs are in a worse position because they have even fewer tax sources and are thus completely dependent on the province. Additionally, the capacity of the LG bureaucracy is weak because it does not attract the best resources due to limited pay scales, career progression, and training opportunities. Instead, LG is run by the federal and provincial bureaucracy, which may not understand the local culture and are transferred in short time spans, negating the possibility of long-term planning and development. Lastly, for LG to be effective, it needs consistency, as citizens need time to understand the governance structure and processes, to be able to participate and engage constructively with LG to resolve their issues. This can be further expedited if laws and processes are available in Urdu and local languages.
The structure of representation should be based on proportional representation through direct elections of all, including reserved (women) seats, which are otherwise squandered through elite capture
Based on the above discussion, we can argue that instituting an effective and functional local government needs much more than passing the law and conducting elections. Before formulating the law, one needs to be clear about what functions local government should be responsible for and divide resources between the provincial and local governments through the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) accordingly. Larger cities with enough taxable resources should have a lower share in PFC, forcing them to generate their own resources, while the PFC should take care of development in villages and marginal towns to ensure that urbanisation pressure is not directed towards a few cities only.
I take the position that public services including: primary & secondary education and skills; primary and secondary health care; water, sewerage, waste management, land use and housing; youth development inclusive of library, culture & sports centres, parks, science museum, education & career counselling; conflict resolution; and, lastly, business facilitation centres should be managed by the LG. Further, current provincial companies or authorities should come under the LG to allow for integrated governance and planning.
The structure of representation should be based on proportional representation through direct elections of all, including reserved (women) seats, which are otherwise squandered through elite capture. This will allow strengthening of political parties at the local level while providing greater participation to organised but marginal voices. Additionally, investments need to be made in LG Service to raise its standards while allowing both provincial and federal bureaucracy (PAS & PMS) to opt for LG Service with good career progression options. For example, the Coordination Officer for Lahore and Karachi should definitely be of grade 22. Lastly, the role of the provincial government should be one of monitoring & evaluation, which manages an LG assessment system with performance indicators, accounting, reporting, and auditing mechanisms.
Still, while we discuss and support a better-designed LG system rather than tweaking the 1979 LG structure, LG politicians argue that they were able to achieve significant improvements at the local level, even from the existing structure, just by being proactive. Further, they argue that the 2001 LG system promulgated by an army dictator achieved much more because it had a better design. So, the question one needs to ask is: why do political parties not understand the importance of a (well-designed) LG system?
This may be because a functioning LG system would make it easy for people to organise at the grassroots level and make political demands of provincial and federal governments, while throwing up new leadership. Thus, threatens the current mode of politics and personalised political parties. At the same time, LG is critical for the strengthening of political parties through party institutionalisation at the local level, so they are in a position to take on the army establishment, which has always used LG to bypass national politicians. This suggests that our traditional political leadership does not necessarily want a positive change, which may end up threatening their own position. Thus, the matter of LG is left with the people of Punjab. Until and unless they make it into an unignorable political demand, the future of LG is bleak, along with democracy and development.