The
fruits of 18th Amendment are yet to be reaped by the common man as the
provinces are reluctant to devolve their powers to the local tiers. The
evidence has proved that local service delivery is efficiently and effectively
achieved through the people-centered and controlled governments.
The need for local governments in our country has now got immense importance
due to the recent wave of youth movements observed in the political parties’ activities
in large urban centers across the country. Experts also expect change in the
upcoming elections due to the large presence of youth in the current population
structure of the country.
The petition by one of the political party in the Supreme Court and consequent
actions by the Election Commission of Pakistan to re-enumerate the current
ballot sheets will also result in inclusion of large majority of unregistered
youth voters.
The recently held general assembly of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and
citizen groups in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania on November 18 and 19, 2011 called
for open, transparent and inclusive budgets which will ensure full human rights
— civil, social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental.
It is also accepted across the globe that citizen’s engagements in the budget
process can enhance improved outcomes of public spending for the poor and
marginalised segments of society. The general assembly also calls upon
governments to ensure budget openness and transparency at local level and
engage with CSOs for bringing social equity.
The recent political turmoil has undermined the need for developing this
country into a livable place for citizens, which is only possible if the
provinces are ready to devolve their powers to the local people. It seems
unacceptable to all the political parties.
The provinces want to drive the local tiers through the strong hand of
bureaucracy rather than involving people into the development process. The
countries on the globe adopt such systems in which the local people are
involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring process, which really
makes difference in the lives of common people.
Porto-Alegre, city of Brazil adopted participatory budgeting process way back
in 1990s and became one of the success stories around the world. At the grass
root level, it involves people into the local budgetary planning process and
prioritized the key development sectors which not only enhances effectiveness
of the development-spending but also enhances the tax revenues due to citizen
engagement. The successful Porto-Alegre model was adopted by more many cities
in Brazil.
Do we really need the system, if yes, what type? Where the executive has
unlimited powers to control, spend and monitor the public money, to which they
do not belong to? Do we need citizens’ engagement at the local level to plan,
implement and monitor development projects? The answers to these questions must
be sought from four chief ministers to whom this responsibility rests with
under the federal devolution plan.
In the past, chief ministers did not seem interested in local government system
and wanted to control districts through appointed representatives to whom they
can send orders within to overturn any policy or document. However, the current
provincial governments are heading towards local systems but at a snail’s pace.
Consultation processes are going on and on only with the political parties,
Government and political parties do not consult CSOs and ordinary citizens.
The question arises about these local systems which will be presented in the
provincial assemblies without consultation of ordinary citizens. Will it be
acceptable to the people they govern? Or will they include ordinary citizens
into the local government in such a way that it enhances oversight on
implementation and monitoring of public spending?
Poor participation of citizens will lead to greater leakage of public money,
weak ownership of public infrastructure, weak accountability and transparency.
The current state of mal-governance will exacerbate as public oversight and
accountability mechanism could not deliver. This has really pushed forward the
need of demand side of governance and social accountability mechanisms. The
current system lacks citizens’ voice in the supply side accountability
mechanisms.
The local government system in the provinces must be people-centered with
maximum inclusion of local people. The provincial government must take
affirmative actions for more participatory approach towards drafting the local
government system that includes the concerned citizen groups, CSOs and ordinary
people. Once the draft is prepared, it must be consulted at the local levels
before presenting it to the assembly for any discussion.
This system should have inbuilt mechanisms to solicit feedback from the
citizens on periodic basis such as the “Citizen Report Card” on delivery of key
services by the district governments.
The writer is a researcher and can be
contacted at gulbazali@gmail.com
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