Local government system news and updates

[darkinsky]

Punjab Assembly:

LAHORE:
The opposition in the Punjab Assembly has demanded that the government adopt a local government system similar to that introduced by Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in 2001 rather than the “1861 throwback” proposed under the Punjab Local Government Bill of 2013.
The demand was made during Monday’s Punjab Assembly sitting, after Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani set aside the routine agenda of the day so members could discuss the bill tabled in the assembly last Friday.
Members of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf criticised the proposed new system as too weak and open to interference from the provincial government and bureaucrats.
Devolution
Muhammad Siddique Khan of the PTI said the bill went against the spirit of Article 140A, which required provincial governments to “devolve political, administrative and financial authority and responsibility to the elected representatives of local governments”. The bill outlined less a local government system and more a local bodies system, he added.
He said that the description of the proposed new system as corporate was flawed. A corporate body was supposed to be autonomous, where elected representatives like mayors regulated laws while public functionaries like DCOs performed their duties under those laws. While the 2001 local government system made the DCO accountable to the district nazim, the new bill made the DCO the principal accounting officer.
He said Local Government Minister Rana Sanaullah’s claim that the new bill was aimed at stopping the corruption under the old system was “rubbish”. The old system provided for the audit of local governments by the auditor general and the PA Public Accounts Committee, while the new bill provided for a Provincial Local Government Commission led by the minister to conduct the audits. The former system contained more appropriate checks, he said.
The new system would provide fewer reserved seats for women and labourers than the previous system, he said, and was thus a violation of Article 32, which states that the government must give “special representation to peasants, workers and women”. The bill also went against Clauses 9, 10, 29 and 3 of the Charter of Democracy calling for local elections on a party basis within three months of general elections, he added.
Khan said that the Punjab government was trying to revive the system introduced by the British in 1861 which empowered the bureaucracy. The system introduced by Gen Musharraf was better. “Even if it was a dictator who came up with something good, it should be adopted,” he added.
Toothless mayors
Mian Aslam Iqbal of the PTI said that the mayors under the new system would be toothless and reduced to protocol officers for the government. In the provincial capital, the chief minister would retain the authority to appoint the heads of the LDA, Tepa, PHA, LWMC, LTC, LPC, Punjab Food Authority, Rescue 1122, the Walled City of Lahore Authority and the district education and health authorities. The chief minister would also be able to suspend the mayor, deputy mayor and chairmen as he pleased.
The bill used the word “prescribed” excessively, he said, which meant that after it was passed, the bureaucracy would formulate a set of laws giving themselves greater control. The bill was also silent about how deputy mayors would be elected in case of no-confidence moves against chairmen or mayors.
Iqbal noted that the ward system had been introduced in 1979, replaced with union councils in 2001, and was now to be reintroduced. This was unnecessarily confusing, he said. There were 150 seats for non-Muslims in the previous system, but now there would be only 10 per district, he added.
Urban-rural divide
Murad Ras of the PTI said that the bill provided for different systems for rural and urban areas. Since there were more tax opportunities in urban areas, this would inevitably lead to urban areas getting more facilities and rural areas being deprived.
He said that the question of delimitation of union councils was too sensitive a matter to be left to the government. This should be done on the basis of population, he said.
The indirect election of mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and vice chairmen would promote horse trading. The heads of district health and education authorities would be appointed by the provincial government, meaning they would act on their agenda rather than on local interests, he said.
Ras noted that the Punjab Local Government Commission would have just one elected member, with the rest being government appointees. The bill provides for local bodies, not local governments, he said.
Consultations
Sanaullah, the local government minister, said that the government aimed to pass the bill with consensus and was open to suggestions from all sides. He asked the opposition members to send in their opinions on whether the local elections should be held on a party or non-party basis, or whether their could be party-based elections for the upper tier of local government and non-party polls for the lower tier, on the division of urban and rural areas, and other issues. The opposition’s input would be taken up in the house or by the 12-member special committee on local governments.
Normal assembly proceedings will resume on Wednesday morning, after Tuesday’s presidential elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2013.

 

[darkinsky]

Parties support call for local bodies elections - thenews.com.pk

Karachi

Different political and religious party leaders have called for holding the local body elections in Sindh within the time frame ordered by the Supreme Court.

On July 22, the apex court had ordered the provincial governments to consider holding local government elections by September 15 after receiving a commitment from the federal government.

The leaders criticised the Sindh chief minister for trying to defy court orders, by announcing the government would seek six more months to hold the local bodies elections.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Functional welcomed the court order to hold elections within three months.

Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, the PML-F Sindh secretary general, said that Qaim Ali Shah had been seeking time to hold elections for the past five years now. “God knows when the Sindh government will hold elections when it will seek more time,” he said.

The legislator claimed that a great sense of deprivation prevailed among the masses, particularly in interior Sindh, in the absence of local body system. The PML-F had promised the masses of a warranted local body system and fair and free local body polls, he added.

Syed Ghous Ali Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz also hailed the apex court directive, calling for its implementation in full letter and spirit. The PML-N Sindh president added, however, it was the provincial government’s right to submit a review plea. “The local government system is a nursery for parliament,” he said.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, perhaps the most vocal proponent of local governance, also called for holding the elections as soon as possible.

Senator Babar Ghauri stressed the need to resolve the various issues surrounding a disputed legislative bill and the local bodies system itself before going on to hold the elections.

The Sindh Assembly speaker had recently said that some improvements could be made in the system. Ghauri demanded that the pending issues should be discussed and resolved through the parliament. “The empowerment at grass-root level is the real essence of democracy,” he stressed.

The MQM has already opposed the local government system of 1979 current in place across the province. The party wants to implement the system of 2001 introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf. It claims both the systems were implemented by a dictator but the 2001 local body system was in the best interest of the masses.

Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Mohammed Hussain Mehanti also seconded that local government elections should be held at all costs. “The government should announce the date of local body elections as soon as possible,” he said.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid also supports the apex court order to organise local government elections. “The masses are suffering in the absence of a local body system,” said PML-Q Sindh President Halim Adil Sheikh.

 

[darkinsky]

now compare these two statements

Khan said that the Punjab government was trying to revive the system introduced by the British in 1861 which empowered the bureaucracy. The system introduced by Gen Musharraf was better. “Even if it was a dictator who came up with something good, it should be adopted,” he added.


Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/nation...rnment-system-news-updates.html#ixzz2ajlUmJEI

The MQM has already opposed the local government system of 1979 current in place across the province. The party wants to implement the system of 2001 introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf. It claims both the systems were implemented by a dictator but the 2001 local body system was in the best interest of the masses.


Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/nation...rnment-system-news-updates.html#ixzz2ajlZdM00

its a must read, nice article which discusses the local government both under military rule and civilian rule and makes a well done analysis

Need for local government - pakistantoday.

That would be the real democracy

Most countries with parliamentary democracies have a three-tier system of governance, with local governments being a pivot of the whole system. The constitution of Pakistan also envisages a three-layered system of governance in the country comprising federal, provincial and local governments. But it is painful to note that while the federal and provincial governments have been functioning un-interrupted both under civilian and military rules, it were only the latter who installed systems of local governments during their rules, though not as envisaged in the constitution but with the sole purpose of building support for their regimes at the grass-root level and to undermine the political parties. The elected governments that interspersed the military regimes remained criminally oblivious to this constitutional requirement. The consequence of this willful breach of the constitution by the so-called elected governments is that the state of Pakistan has, to a great extent, failed to provide the required services to its citizens and building a responsible relationship with them.

Ayub Khan created a system of basic democracies which he ultimately turned into an electoral college for the election of president in 1964. General Zia through Local Government Ordinance 1979 created a system of local government under which elections were held in 1979, 1983 and 1987 on non-party basis. He provided enormous funds to the local governments. In 1985, he held general elections on non-party basis for the national and provincial assemblies and pursuing a policy of appeasement, started the tradition of allocating Rs5 million to each and every member of national and provincial assemblies. The latter governments enhanced it to Rs50 million. The PML-N government has however curtailed it to Rs10 million in the budget for 2013-14. The local governments during Ayub and Zia era, however, operated under the patronage and supervision of the Deputy Commissioner and Commissioners and therefore remained under the strict control of the provincial governments.

The model of local government originally crafted by the National Bureau of Reconstruction during Musharraf era was probably the boldest initiative that conformed to the system envisioned in the constitution. It enhanced the powers of the elected officials of the local government and abolished the office of District Magistrate and Divisional Commissioners. This step also finally fulfilled the constitutional requirement under article 175(3) for separation of judiciary from executive at the district level. However, the PML-Q government installed by Musharraf defanged the system by changing some of its features and initiating a process of recentralisation of some of the development departments. Due to resistance from the legislators who had developed a vested interest in having development funds at their disposal and the most powerful occupational groups like DMG and Police, who had a big stake in ascendancy of bureaucracy over the elected representatives at the local level, Musharraf acquiesced to these changes dictated by political expediencies.

Regrettably, the moment democracy was restored as a result of 2008 elections, all the provincial governments abandoned the system and revived the archaic and colonial system of district administration. None of the parties ruling the provinces, in spite of crying hoarse from every convenient roof top to rub in their democratic credentials, never bothered to hold local government elections. What a shame?

Thanks to the petitions filed by the citizens in the Supreme Court and its consequent order to the provinces to hold local government elections by September that a ray of hope has been rekindled to empower the people at the grass-root level to manage their own affairs. Article 140A (1&2) stipulates” 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. Elections to the local governments shall be held by the Election Commission of Pakistan.”As is evident from this article the local government system envisaged by the constitution demands devolution of full powers to the local government, including development projects and the local administration, free from strangulating control of the provincial governments.

In pursuance of the Supreme Court order, all the provinces are in the process of enacting laws to establish local governments in their areas of jurisdiction. The media reports in this regard indicate that all the provincial governments are probably contemplating a system of local government which gives the provincial governments authority to control them. If it is so, the provincial governments will only be fulfilling the constitutional requirement rather than actually putting in place an effective system of local government benefiting the people at the grass-root level. The local government system can deliver only when social sectors are completely decentralised and service providers made accountable to the local elected officials; the local administration is run by the elected representatives meaning that the police and district bureaucracy is under their control; sufficient funds are allocated to the them and the dubious practice of giving development funds to the legislators is done away with.

It is encouraging to note that the federal government seems willing to devolve more powers to the local bodies. It is a good omen for the future of local governments in the country. In a briefing given by the Punjab chief minister on the proposed document for holding local government elections in the province, the prime minister directed the CM to devise a local government system which might devolve maximum powers to the grass-root level, resolve problems of the people and ensure prosperity.

It is essential that all the provinces are mindful of the article 175(3) which stipulates separation of judiciary and executive while devising the local government systems. This will also help in eliminating the ‘thana culture’ as promised by the prime minister and Punjab chief minister. Perhaps, it would be advisable to the PML-N government to convene a meeting of chief ministers of all the provinces with a view to evolve consensus on the adoption of a uniform system of local government which grants maximum autonomy to the locally elected officials in dealing with development and law and order, free from the debilitating impact of the archaic and colonial legacy of the district administration. If Nawaz Sharif can pull this through, he will be remembered in the history as a great benefactor of Pakistan.
- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/201...ed-for-local-government/#sthash.I5icatl3.dpuf

 

[darkinsky]

in conclusion the champions of democracies PPPP and PMLN are unwilling to dissolve the powers to the grass roots level, they will only form the local bodies system which will not be independent but it will still be controlled by provincial governments of punjab and Sindh

both of them will keep running age old british system of commissioner and deputy commissioners

there is no hope for real even after it gets installed

 

[darkinsky]

so much corruption as pointed out by the guy in thos program

 

[darkinsky]

MQM against 1979 local government system

 

[darkinsky]

MQM and community policing

 

[darkinsky]

Sindh Local body elections

 

[darkinsky]

looks like the insafians are least bothered about local government system

sanu key

 

[Leader]

looks like the insafians are least bothered about local government system

sanu key

we havent got the draft presented in KPK yet, once that is done, I will come back to this thread.

 

[pak-marine]

dont think this will be implemented with Fakhru bhai gone new appointment of cheif election commisioner will take forever and so will be case with LG elections , forget about it people sorry to bust the bubble

 

[darkinsky]

dont think this will be implemented with Fakhru bhai gone new appointment of cheif election commisioner will take forever and so will be case with LG elections , forget about it people sorry to bust the bubble

the election will be held by provincial govts and not federal govt

 

[darkinsky]

 

[darkinsky]

 

[darkinsky]