THE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government dissolved the local councils on Feb 20, 2010, and replaced the elected nazims with administrators. Prior to that development, the provincial assembly introduced amendments in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Ordinance, 2001, and incorporated section 179-B in the ordinance empowering the government to dissolve the councils and appoint administrators.

Subsequently, the government tabled the Local Government Bill, 2010, before the assembly on March 25, 2010, aimed at replacing the General Pervez Musharraf era local governments with a another version of the system introduced by General Ziaul Haq in 1979. The said bill, which proposes repealing of the Local Government Ordinance (LGO) 2001, was referred to a select committee of the assembly and has still been pending before it.Despite the passage of over 16 months, when the elected councils were dissolved, the holding of the local government elections is nowhere in sight in the province. Same is the case in the other three provinces, where no schedule has been given for holding the elections.

In Sindh, the provincial government abruptly issued an ordinance on July 9 through which the Local Government Ordinance of 1979 was revived by repealing the 2001 ordinance. Legislation is in the pipelines in Punjab province where the government also intends to repeal the LGO 2001. Similarly, in Balochistan the LGO 2001 was replaced last year with an Act which is considered replica of the previous LGO of 1979.

Recently, a consultation organised by the South Asia Partnership, Pakistan, in Lahore called upon the federal and provincial governments to accept the local government system as primary tier of the political governance and restore it immediately by announcing schedule for party-based local elections in the country including tribal areas, cantonments and Islamabad Capital Territory.

The consultation titled “Voices of stakeholders: challenges to local government and way forward”, termed the local government management by commissioners a product of neocolonialism and demanded that this practice must be abandoned immediately.

The 1973 Constitution makes it binding on the state to encourage the local government system. Article 32 states: “The State shall encourage local government institutions composed of elected representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions special representation will be given to peasants, workers and women.”

Similarly, Article 140-A (1) states: “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 government.”

Sub-section 2 of Article 140-A provides “Election to the local governments shall be held by the Election Commission of Pakistan.”

In the bill tabled by the provincial government it is proposed to set up the NWFP Local Council Election Authority for conducting local government elections. However, as this proposed section is in conflict with the new incorporated Article 140-A of the Constitution, the government has to amend it.

The Local Council Association (LCA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- a representative body of the elected former nazims, naib-nazims and councilors -- has so far filed several writ petitions before the Peshawar High Court challenging different acts of the provincial government regarding the local government system in the province. However, these petitions are still pending.

Through one of the petitions, the LCA has challenged the delay in holding of the local government elections in the provinces and has requested the court to direct the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to hold the polls. Similarly, another petition was filed challenging the Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2010, through which he elected nazims were replaced with administrators.

Furthermore, the association also challenged a letter of the provincial senior minister to the administrators of the local councils directing them that the development funds in the councils would be utilised through the respective MPAs. The association has also filed another writ petition challenging various steps of the provincial government including revival of the offices of divisional commissioners by amending the relevant revenue laws.

The proposed local government law provides that the local councils shall include: A municipal corporation for Peshawar; a municipal committee for each city other than Peshawar; a union council for each union and a district council for each district. In the proposed law there is no concept of town or tehsil council, which is available in the existing system.

The draft further provides that the union council will be having seven members -- four Muslim members on general seats including one reserved for women; two seats reserved for peasants and workers including one woman; and, one seat reserved for minority communities.

About the composition of the district council, municipal corporation and committees, it is mentioned that these will consist of such number of general members as determined by the government through a notification. Similarly, about the reserved seats for women, peasants, workers and minorities the draft states that these would be fixed by the government and would be filled in a manner determined by the government.

It is proposed that election of members of all local councils shall be held on the basis of adult franchise and joint electorate through secret ballot.

A senior social activist and an expert on the subject of devolution and local government, Zahid Islam, believes that the basic question is whether district governments should be autonomous or under the administrative control of the provincial government. The present government and most political parties are of the opinion that the local governments and local councils should be under the provincial government.

“Therefore, they want to wind up the local government system and replace it with the old system of municipal corporations in urban areas and district councils in rural areas,” he maintained.

About the positive thing in the existing system, he said that the district government’s control in 13 subjects meant that people in a far-flung district would not have to travel to the provincial capital for issues related to those subjects.