ON the eve of February 2008 elections, all political parties specifically announced their policy on provincial autonomy and devolution in their manifestos. Implicit in all the manifestos is the realisation that the over-centralisation of executive functions needs to be rectified through adequate decentralisation.

There is near consensus among the parties that provinces should be strengthened through greater autonomy and transfer of subjects from the centre to the provinces. In fact, the stand of the smaller regional parties on the issue of provincial autonomy is much stronger. ANP and MQM talk about full provincial autonomy with the centre retaining only the subjects of defence, foreign affairs and currency.

PPP is in favour of expansion in the distribution criteria for the National Finance Commission award beyond population to contribution to revenues, geographic size, backwardness and level of development. It also proposes the progressive reversion of sales tax to provinces.

Political parties have also indicated their position with regard to devolution to local governments. There is a wide range of views on devolution in the manifestos. At one extreme the MQM, with a strong pro-devolution agenda, calls for further strengthening of local governments through an integrated system, with specialised departments being brought under the control of district administrations.

The PML-Q emphasises devolution as one of the “5-Ds” on which their manifesto is based, and the PML-N calls for a high-level commission to look at the entire governing structure, including the devolution/decentralisation process and to suggest amendments in laws that recognise the ground realities in each province and are also suited to the needs of the people.

The PPP, in line with the party's devolution plan, does not support the local government system introduced by the military regime. The proposed list of local services identified as local by the PPP is somewhat restricted and includes education, health, water supply and sanitation.

There is an urgent need for all political parties to evolve a consensus to build a durable and sustainable system of local government and community development. The most practical approach for evolving such a consensus would be to make necessary changes in the existing system of local government rather than create four different systems in the four provinces.

Many studies have been undertaken to identify the strengths and weaknesses of this system and different options have been under discussion at different levels. It is important for the federal government to provide strong leadership and finalise a package of reforms in consultation with the provincial governments before the next local bodies elections due before the end of 2009.

The revised package can provide for flexibility to the provinces to make changes in accordance with their circumstances and priorities, within a common national framework which could be incorporated in the proposed 18th Amendment currently under discussion.

The local government system will always be under pressure from different interest groups. Currently the bureaucracy, especially at the provincial level, would like to regain the position it enjoyed under the 1979 model. Similarly, newly elected MNAs and MPAs and other elite groups would like local institutions to be subservient to their respective political interests. There is also the perception that the 2001 devolution plan was over-designed, whereby too much has been devolved from the provincial to the local governments while federal-provincial decentralisation has been totally ignored. In that context, the proposal to leave only three subjects to the federal government goes to the other extreme since such a 'confederal' system could make the federal government totally powerless to keep the country together.

The political leadership of Pakistan is virtually on trial since it has to prove to the nation that a democratic system has greater capacity and political will, than successive military regimes, to evolve a strong and sustainable system of local governance. To achieve this paramount long-term objective, they would have to relegate their respective short-term political objectives. — Concluded

The writer is a former finance, agriculture and foreign minister of Pakistan.