ISLAMABAD: It seems that devolution of power at grassroots level is not on the agenda of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in Punjab as it keeps postponing local government election for one reason or the other.
Despite the Supreme Court’s orders, the provincial government has been dilly-dallying the elections for the last one year.
Political parties in general and Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf in particular have constantly been criticising the government for not fulfilling its election promises to overcome energy crisis and provide relief to the poverty stricken people.
In such a situation, going for the local body elections would be suicidal for the PML-N, Arif Abbasi, said the PTI member of provincial assembly. At present, the city district governments are being run by civil bureaucracy while cantonment boards by civil and military bureaucracy.
In most of the developed countries, local governments take care of civic affairs. Mayors and local councillors are answerable to people directly and they work for the improvement of civic facilities.
In Pakistan local governments only exist in dictatorial regimes and in democracies rulers try to avoid local body elections for one reason or the other.
The PML-N government could not make amendments to the Cantonment Act 1924 to pave the way for holding elections in 53 cantonment boards across the country. In December 2013, the provincial government announced schedule for local body elections which were to be held on January 30, 2014.
The provincial government had completed the process of delimitation of union councils and started receiving nomination papers but the opposition parties raised objections over the manner in which the delimitation carried out by the government as it conducted the whole exercise without consulting the opposition.
Some political parties challenged the exercise in the Supreme Court which put the local bodies elections on hold in January and asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to redo the delimitation of union councils for local government elections and also asked provincial governments to make amendments to the legislation in this regard.
But the ECP sought time as it was facing shortage of staff for carrying out the delimitation exercise again. Later, it linked the delimitation with census. Again the ball was in the court of the government. It has to hold census in the country, but it was dragging its feet.
The ECP collected a handsome amount under the head of security fee and so far it has failed to refund to the candidates.
In Rawalpindi district alone, more than 8,323 candidates submitted their nomination papers for two municipal corporations and five municipal committees in Rawalpindi district.
In each union council, more than four panels filed their nominations with security fees. Chairman and vice chairman being one group in each union council submitted Rs5,000 security fee, general councillor and youth, labour, minority and woman members Rs2,000 each.
According to Punjab Local Government Act 2013, each union council in Rawalpindi and Murree tehsils had been divided into six wards for direct election of (six) members to the union council on the basis of adult franchise.
Internews
