THE country’s history has been marked by a struggle between the central government, which wanted to keep all authority for itself, and the provinces and regions, that supported devolution of power.

Though the 18th Amendment was a major step towards increasing provincial autonomy, some parts of the country continue to be ruled through fiat from Islamabad. Gilgit-Baltistan is one such example.

Today, the region’s first legislative assembly elected after the passage of the landmark Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, 2009, completes its term.

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Yet despite increased self-governance, Gilgit-Baltistan’s people have largely been unable to reap the fruits of devolution. Local leaders say the federal bureaucracy interferes far too often in local affairs, while there are complaints that the region is overly dependent on Islamabad for finances and does not get its fair share.

Also, key subjects such as tourism, minerals and power generation fall under the purview of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council, a body which contains both nominated and elected members.

Further, while Islamabad continues to try and run things through remote control, the region’s elected leadership over the last five years has also failed to deliver. There was criticism in the legislative assembly recently over federal minister Pervaiz Rashid’s reported remarks that Gilgit-Baltistan is not constitutionally a part of Pakistan. Though the minister’s words were uttered in another context, they are technically correct and point to the crux of the problem.

Despite development and positive changes made to the region’s administrative structure during the Musharraf era and during the PPP’s last federal government respectively, the fact is the people of Gilgit-Baltistan remain in a constitutional limbo.

Due to its links with the disputed Kashmir region, Islamabad has put the region’s status in suspended animation. But local people deserve a more permanent constitutional framework and the progress made in 2009 needs to be built upon.

Either the region should be given provincial status, as its elected representatives have demanded through a resolution, or an Azad Kashmir-like set-up should be created. The centre needs to stop treating Gilgit-Baltistan in a step-motherly fashion; and the elected assembly should be more than a glorified municipal government.

Having said that, the next elected leadership that takes power in the area — the date for elections is yet to be announced — must perform much better than the PPP-led set-up that is being wrapped up, hounded as it was by allegations of corruption and nepotism.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2014