THE Supreme Court of Pakistan made the right decision in ordering the restoration of local government institutions in Punjab and declaring their dissolution more than 22 months ago as unconstitutional. Opposition politicians might celebrate the ruling as a setback for the PTI government. But it is not a victory for them either. In fact, to some others, attempts to end or weaken local administrations may not be as important as cases where federal or provincial governments were overthrown via presidential putsch or gubernatorial action. But the decision is an important win for the people, whose mandate is frequently invalidated through the premature dissolution of LGs. It will go a long way in consolidating democracy in the country in general and deepening local democracy in particular. It isn’t without reason that the attorney general of Pakistan equated a section of the Punjab Local Government Act, 2019, which empowered the provincial administration to dissolve LGs elected under the 2013 law, with the infamous, erstwhile Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution that gave the president the authority to arbitrarily send elected governments home. Future governments will now think long and hard before daring to remove elected local body institutions on a whim. Though the court will record the reasons for its decision later on, the order closes the door on dissolution of LGs through administrative actions — even if this is provided in the law — as unconstitutional.

Autonomous LGs are considered the building blocks of a functional democracy the world over. No governance, financial and administrative reform can be successfully implemented in the absence of a strong, powerful and steady LG system. Sadly, our political parties and leaders have never felt comfortable with grassroots democracy because they do not want to share powers with locally elected representatives of the people in spite of the crucial role of LGs in service delivery. Hence, we repeatedly find them introducing new LG systems to suit their political interests and wind up existing ones on coming to power.

The present government is no exception. What it did in Punjab, and the tactics it has employed to delay local elections since May 2019 when a new law was introduced only reflects the prevailing mindset across political parties. If the PTI government is serious about consolidating local democracy as it claims, it is time it started working on strengthening the weak constitutional cover given under Articles 32 and 140-A to LG institutions to ensure their continuity, and financial and administrative empowerment by building on the court’s decision. The effort requires strong buy-in from the opposition parties as well as the provinces. Without meaningful constitutional cover, the provinces and the political parties ruling them will continue to find ways of keeping LG institutions powerless and weak, and roll back local democracy whenever it does not suit their interests.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2021