LAHORE: A new bill of the local government in PUNJAB grants a radical authority to the attached commissioners (DC) not chosen, leaving aside the elected officials and generating alarms about the democratic recoil in the most populous province of Pakistan.
Presented by the ruler League Muslim from Pakistan-Nawaz (PML-N) on March 7 at the Punjab Assembly, the bill is currently under review in a permanent committee, where it has been criticized not only by opposition legislators but also by members of the ruling party.
Legal experts argue that the draft Law undermines article 140a of the Constitution of Pakistan, which requires the return of power to the local organizations chosen. Others fear that the legislation aims to avoid the emergence of the powerful mayors of the rival political parties.
What is in the invoice?
The proposed law introduces a two -level structure for local governments with a five -year term: one at the Tehsil level (subdistrite) and another at the level of the Board of the Union.
In the main cities such as Lahore (population of more than 700,000), the upper level would be called a municipal corporation. Cities with populations between 200,000 and 700,000 would have municipal corporations, while the smallest cities (25,000 to 200,000 people) would be governed by municipal committees.
In rural areas, the upper level would be called the Tehsil Council.
The second level would be known as union councils, the most basic units of governance in urban and rural areas.
Voters would be allowed to choose directly only to the members of the Council of the Union. Each council would have 13 members: nine general seats and four reserved (for women, young people, peasants and non -Muslims).
These members would choose the mayors and mayors of the upper levels through an indirect vote.
Role of the attached commissioner
Since the system begins at the Tehsil level, it leaves the attached commissioners, a bureaucratic position of the colonial era, in total control at the district level without a counterpart chosen to verify their powers.
In fact, according to the bill, DCS would exercise considerable power. They would facilitate the electoral commission when attracting constituencing limits.
And direct a recently created district authority, which will be responsible for administering, operating and assigning funds for the 10 departments transferred to local governments, namely: health, education, social welfare, population control, sports, transport, civil defense, public health engineering, art and culture and tourism.
The DCS would also preside over the Municipal Coordination Forum of the District, an agency that could recommend legal or disciplinary actions against local government officials.
Although local governments would technically control services such as water, sanitation, roads and cemeteries, among other things, the bill includes an important warning: any existing provincial agency that delivers those services would retain those powers unless the provincial government decides otherwise.
During a permanent committee session on April 10, government officials admitted that the return of powers was “optional” and subject to the discretion of the Punjab government.
What does the government say in its defense?
Zeeshan Rafique, the Minister of Local Government in Punjab, dismissed the concerns that the proposed local government system would place representatives elected under the authority of the attached commissioner.
“This is a wrong concept,” Rafique said in an interview with the news at a recent event in Lahore. “He [new] Local governments will be completely independent and autonomous bodies. They will have their own budgets. The DC will only sit at the district level as representative of the Punjab government. “
Rafique argued that the provincial government deserves credit for the transfer authority beyond the district level. “The Punjab government should be appreciated for power returns from the districts to the lowest level, such as the subdistrite (Tehsil) and the Council of the Union,” he said.
Even so, the minister acknowledged that the key questions still do not resolve, particularly around whether certain departments, such as health, should be transferred at all. “Yes, there are departments such as health, education, etc., where there is a debate about how much they can be transferred,” he admitted.
“But I can guarantee you,” he added, “that after this [new law is passed]It will create the strongest local government and the provision of services will also improve. ”
The last time the local government in Punjab completed its mandate in 2021. Since then, new elections of local governments in the province have not been held.
What do critics say?
At the Meeting of the Permanent Committee of April 10, the PML-N Ahmed Iqbal Chaudhry legislator criticized the bill of his party, qualifying him as violation of article 140a. He pointed out that provincial governments have already stripped local agencies of their central responsibilities, giving the provincial authorities.
He cited the Punjab Transits Massas Authority, which supervises public transport, the Saaf Pani authority, which regulates the water supply, the Shehr E Khamoshan authority, which manages the cemeteries and, more recently, the Punjab Space Planning Authority, responsible for preparing land use plans, such as some examples of provincial bodies that are already investing in the domain of Local governorates.
Chaudhry pointed out the words added in the law that the provincial authorities will continue to perform functions of the local government. “What we are doing is wrong. We are removing powers of the local government and parking them in [provincial] Authorities, ”he said to the committee.
Experts say that another controversial provision in the bill is that each voter can only cast a vote for a general member at the level of the Board of the Union. They say that this effectively limits each party to present only one candidate, which makes it more difficult for any part to ensure a majority and increase the probability of fractured of the multiple councils.
“This system pushes the political parties of local elections,” said Mubeen Uddin Qazi, lawyer and expert in the local government. “If a voter can cast only one vote, how can a party campaign for multiple candidates? Viola the purpose of the party -based elections.”
Mayraj Fahim, local governance advisor and member of the City Mayors Foundation, said the bill was not a genuine attempt to deduce power.
“He [the bill] It’s a disaster, “he told The News.” There is no research that supports it. Punjab needs a strong system to match its population and its rapid urbanization. But instead, this system is weak. He is undermined by fragmentation and overlapping functions. “
An academic based in Lahore, who requested anonymity, said the bill seemed designed to block the emergence of strong mayors seen as possible political threats.
“There seems to be fear [within the PML-N] That this system could produce powerful mayors of rival parties, “he said.” Since strong mayors often become leadership contenders and increase competition in democratic space. “
Originally published in the news
