THE debate on local bodies is often hotly contested. Some believe that true democracy can only really flourish if local bodies are functioning. Others give examples of the malaise in our political and social landscape and see further fracturing. Constitutionally, local governments are considered a crucial part of the governance framework. Their role has been repeatedly reinforced, through both judicial activism and legislative activity, but they have not been allowed to flourish. Remarkably, local bodies have had better luck under martial law – just hark back to the Musharraf era. However, each time these local bodies received support, there were often hidden agendas involved.
What is effective local governance? Some believe that the failure of local governments in many post-colonial settings stems from the fact that these local bodies typically lack a direct tax base. This makes them heavily reliant on higher tiers of government for support. In Pakistan, local governments, whenever they have existed, were dependent not on their jurisdictions but on the beneficence of either the district administration or the provincial executive, or both. Fiscal autonomy and fiscal accountability should then be one of the fundamental revisions when reforming laws around local governance.
Yet this argument seems to address a symptom........