December 19, 2007	Wednesday	Zilhaj 8, 1428

PESHAWAR, Dec 18: Most of the mainstream political parties have reservations about the local bodies system, as introduced by President Pervez Musharraf. However, perusal of their manifestoes reveals that they may continue with the same system if elected.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which has been the main critic of President Musharraf’s devolution of power plan, in its election manifesto did not talk about its abolishment. Rather, it said it intended to introduce reforms in it.

The part of the PPP manifesto dealing with governance says that the party believes in a three-tier system, including federal, provincial and local. Each will enjoy autonomy and will function as per the law.

The system of local government introduced by the military regime, “which has been manipulated for political ends” will be revamped to bring it in line with the party’s own devolution plan, says the manifesto.

Primary education, basic health, water supply, sanitation and population welfare will be looked after by the local governments, it maintains.

The deputy commissioner will perform the functions of the District Coordination Officer (DCO). Local government will work on modern lines.

Interestingly, the manifesto of the Pakistan Muslim League-N has no words about the devolution or local bodies system introduced by President Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif’s manifesto only says: “Devolution, decentralisation, and delegation shall be pursued to create a government that is closer to the people.”

The Pakistan Muslim League-Q emerges as a strong supporter of the devolution of power plan. Its manifesto has a separate chapter on the subject.

The party claims to be the architect of the devolution of powers in Pakistan and says that decentralisation is a key to good governance. It says that the PML-Q is committed to provincial autonomy within the federal framework, and it will continue with the positive initiative taken in this regard by the parliamentary committee on Balochistan.

The PML-Q manifesto explains that while there has been devolution of powers from the provinces to the districts, there is a need for devolution of authority from the federation to the provinces.

The party proposes that there should also be decentralisation of authority within the ministries and departments besides the downsizing of Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

It says the rules of business will be accordingly revised to remove red tape and some subjects in the concurrent list will be handed over to the provinces.