THE ECP has cancelled the local government elections in Islamabad for the third time subsequent to a recent amendment to the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act, 2015. Though the act has ostensibly been amended to increase the number of union council (UC) seats, the move is suspected, by the opposition, to have been made to further delay the polls scheduled for Oct 9. Earlier, the Shehbaz Sharif government had twice frustrated the ECP’s attempts to hold local polls in the capital by first increasing the number of its constituent UCs from 50 to 101, and again to 125. The last time the LG elections were held in the federal capital was 2016. The opposition says that the ruling PML-N is not interested in conducting local polls in Islamabad for fear of its defeat. The PML-N leadership is stalling local polls in Punjab as well — again for political reasons.

The Constitution’s Article 140A says “the federal government and 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 in Islamabad Capital Territory and cantonments, and each of the provinces”. It also says elections to the local governments shall be held by the ECP. Nonetheless, politicians maintain that they will have local governments when it politically suits them. Little wonder then, local polls are never held regularly in any province or in Islamabad. Also, no political party is interested in transferring the powers that the said article mandates to be devolved to local representatives. This reluctance against strong and powerful local democracy stems from the fear that this might make provincial governments redundant, ultimately diminishing the influence of provincial and federal legislators. Their hesitation has also led the provinces to experiment with a variety of local body models according to the needs of the parties and politicians in power. It must, however, be acknowledged that it is the country’s Constitution that gives the provinces exclusive domain over decision-making in matters related to local bodies. The establishment of local bodies as the third tier of the state will remain a distant dream until a comprehensive framework defining the mechanism of their establishment, role, powers and other matters is inserted in the Constitution to strengthen local democracy. But will those who draw their authority from the status quo let it happen?

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2024