Bureaucrats to Rule Local Governments
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The News International, Pakistan, Sunday, July 12, 2009
The recent decision to dissolve the local governments across the country three months before the end of their terms remains a questionable one. Compounding the perplexing nature of the decision is the indefinite delay in the elections for a new setup due to an adverse security situation in the country, which cannot be expected to improve in the near future. In effect, this means that the administrators that the provincial governments will appoint to replace nazims and councillors will run the show for an extended time period, thereby heralding a return of the commissioner system of yesteryear. There are plenty of drawbacks to such a move.
Firstly, while it is not yet clear what the profile of the incoming administrators will be – whether they are from the bureaucracy, which is most likely, or otherwise – what we do know is that none of them will be elected. This is a questionable move given that their predecessors were elected representatives, whose legal tenure would have run up until October. This strategy is at odds with the current government’s stated democratic agenda. Handing over power to the bureaucracy, or any other unelected representatives, who are generally unaccountable, that too at the expense of elected figures, is clearly not the ideal way to go. The party-less local government system, which was introduced during the reign of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, had its share of detractors on the political front, particularly once the new Pakistan People’s Party-led came to power. Whatever its shortcomings, on the ground, particularly in the urban centres of Sindh, the system was viewed as a democratic success.
Source
The recent decision to dissolve the local governments across the country three months before the end of their terms remains a questionable one. Compounding the perplexing nature of the decision is the indefinite delay in the elections for a new setup due to an adverse security situation in the country, which cannot be expected to improve in the near future. In effect, this means that the administrators that the provincial governments will appoint to replace nazims and councillors will run the show for an extended time period, thereby heralding a return of the commissioner system of yesteryear. There are plenty of drawbacks to such a move.
Firstly, while it is not yet clear what the profile of the incoming administrators will be – whether they are from the bureaucracy, which is most likely, or otherwise – what we do know is that none of them will be elected. This is a questionable move given that their predecessors were elected representatives, whose legal tenure would have run up until October. This strategy is at odds with the current government’s stated democratic agenda. Handing over power to the bureaucracy, or any other unelected representatives, who are generally unaccountable, that too at the expense of elected figures, is clearly not the ideal way to go. The party-less local government system, which was introduced during the reign of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, had its share of detractors on the political front, particularly once the new Pakistan People’s Party-led came to power. Whatever its shortcomings, on the ground, particularly in the urban centres of Sindh, the system was viewed as a democratic success.
Source
Labels: Bureaucracy, Devolution of Power, Governance, Local Governments
posted @ 10:50 AM,
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