PERHAPS egged on by the Supreme Court order that elections be held in Islamabad, the PML-N government has let it be known that it has prepared a draft law for a local government system in the capital. The draft law provides for a metropolitan corporation for Islamabad; elected representatives from ‘wards’; reserved seats for women and minorities; and deputy mayors and a city mayor. Details are still missing. For instance, there is no news on the number of wards. Similarly, it also remains to be seen if this draft act, which appears to be an initiative of the interior minister, is backed by the prime minister and his government. But there is no doubt that this is a step in the right direction. Islamabad cannot be denied its democratic right any longer.

Unfortunately, the city has always been plagued by authoritarianism. It was created by a dictator, and his successors — democrats or otherwise — rarely thought that the city deserved self-rule. Even the last great saviour, retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, left the capital out of his ‘national’ reconstruction of Pakistan under which local government was introduced. For Islamabad, the centrally appointed bureaucrats were deemed sufficient. Lording over the Capital Development Authority, these bureaucrats were appointed by the inhabitants of Constitution Avenue and rarely bothered with the city’s residents. Shortage of housing and water were ignored as officials spent their tenures looking for expensive plots to build retirement homes or helping the powerful buy large tracts of land on the outskirts of this rapidly expanding city. The PPP was no different. Despite its promises it never provided a local government system. Now the PML-N has jumped into the fray. It is hoped that it lives up to its word.