Local body polls in urban Sindh

ByShahmir Kazi

works in the private sector with interest in socio-political affairs

Dated

December 24, 2022

Local body polls in urban Sindh

Shahmeer Kazi comments upon an issue that has become
contentious

Local body polls in urban Sindh government is one of the most contentious political issues in Pakistan but it assumes serious political connotation in Sindh where a clear urban-rural divide in the province. The issue has become acute in the country because the frequent military regimes in Pakistan always encouraged local governments as they tried to cut through federal and provincial civilian political leaderships in order to keep their hold on power by running civic affairs locally. It has been experienced in the past that the military regimes succeeded in creating a political bulwark to the political leadership it removed in shape of local level politicians whom the military rulers portrayed as representing public opinion on the grassroots. This was precisely the reason military regimes ensured timely elections and empowered local governments creating a wedge between them and federal as well as provincial civilian leaderships. These attempts helped introduce a devolved system of local government ostensibly to promote participatory democracy, capacity building at the lower levels, empowerment of vulnerable communities, enhancement of women’s participation in governance, and support for democratic practices at the grassroots level but in actual fact such local governance served the interests of the military rulers ultimately.

This issue is rated to be more acute in Sindh as its urban areas account for more than forty per cent of the population of the province and in the absence of local government they remain at a strategic and political disadvantage. For many years, various provincial governments have controlled the affairs of the urban areas particularly Karachi’s affairs and had the final word on crucial decisions about mega transportation projects, institutional revamping and new real estate developments in which the viewpoint of the urban areas has not been given due weight. It is very obvious that holding local elections and constructing a viable tier of local government is not a priority for the provincial government that is held by PPP since more than a decade. It is very well known in this context the Sindh government has become quite adept in the art of delaying local government elections and keeps on postponing them on one pretext or the other. This problem has been exacerbated by the sidelining of the political party representing the urban areas and this has increased the gap between the ruling provincial dispensation and the local urban leadership.

The consistent delays caused in holding local body polls in Sindh have not only irked the public representatives of the urban areas but has also caused discomfiture to the Election Commission of Pakistan that has publicly slammed the provincial government for consistently postponing elections and has called this attitude unjust protesting that the Sindh government has taken the power of calling from elections from the ECP. The ECP also pointed out that delaying the LG polls violates Supreme Court directives and by doing so it is acting illegally and unconstitutionally. In the latest such postponement the Sindh government has mentioned that it does not have the police personnel and administrative staff to conduct the elections as they are busy in flood relief work. The circles opposing the LG polls point out that the ruling party in Sindh claim to be the champions of democracy but in actual fact display a patently undemocratic attitude when it comes to an elected third tier. They emphasise that the lack of interest shown by the ruling party in Sindh is the result of its visible bad governance in Sindh that could well result in it getting a drubbing at the ballot box even if the faction-ridden, rudderless MQM is in no position to mount a strong campaign.

Finally now the Sindh High Court (SHC) has asked the ECP to issue the schedule for local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad adding that the polls should preferably be conducted within 60 days. Earlier the ECP had postponed the polls in Karachi and Hyderabad on a request made by the Sindh government that cited flood rehabilitation matters as the reason for not holding them. The affected political parties went to the court and the SHC reserved its verdict that it has now announced. The SHC also directed the government to ensure that requisite assistance is rendered to the ECP along with ensuring that all preparatory or organisational steps are taken in advance.

Setting aside the reason given by the provincial government about not being able to provide adequate police cover during the poll, the SHC directed the Sindh administration to seek extra police personnel from Punjab and rejected the request for further delay on the grounds that considerable time was given for an appropriate solution to have been found and the matter cannot indefinitely be kept in abeyance by the provincial administration continuing to withhold the aid it is duty-bound to provide to the ECP on the same pretext. TW

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