AS a student in London in the 1990s, oodles of free time and not much money meant a lot of time was spent walking around the city. These long, meaningless walks would sometimes end up across the river at the London County Hall. Imposing and beautiful, it used to present a desolate picture in those days. But even the lack of care and emptiness could not detract from its grandeur and there were always rumours of what the government might do with it. Sell it to a college in London, which was flush with money and short of space, or to a bidder who wanted to build a hotel.

Of course, the discussions about the future of County Hall were inevitably followed by journeys into the past to explain why a building such as this stood empty; inevitably the discussion ended up about the government and times of Margaret Thatcher. Few this side of Suez may know that among all else, Thatcher is also known for the treatment she meted out to local governments. She abolished the Greater London Council and others in a move that was seen to be linked to the Tory-Labour rivalry. Ken Livingstone, a Labour party leader, who led the GLC in those days, antagonised Thatcher by a series of actions such as displaying the rising unemployment figures on County Hall, reducing bus and tube fares and maintaining contacts with the Sinn Fein.

Eventually, Thatcher’s government abolished the GLC. The decision was finally reversed with the return of the Labour Party under Tony Blair, which changed the law again to establish the Greater London Authority and allow for a directly elected mayor of the city.

The County Hall (which has since been turned into a hotel) and this slice of British politics is never far from the mind as we attempt to make sense of the shenanigans surrounding the local governments at home. And the moral of the story, for me at least, is that in the absence of constitutional protections, local governments’ presence cannot be taken for granted.

It is in Sindh that we find a direct parallel to the UK on the issue of local government.

Pakistan’s story is not too dissimilar, with local governments consistently being at the mercy of the provincial centres. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has by now reduced the 30 per cent funding it had originally given to local governments when the PTI first came to power. Punjab too has watered down the law; the piece by Ali Cheema in Dawn yesterday provided for a depressing reading.

But it is in Sindh that we find the direct parallel to the UK; the fear of a rival controlling the local government in Karachi appears to drive lawmaking on the issue. As with the story about Thatcher and the local governments, the PPP’s record on local governments is dominated by its friction with the parties which represent Karachi.

This is also why Sindh is the only province where there has been considerable debate over the local government law and one doesn’t have to wait to read an op-ed about what the provincial government is up to but the noise on the streets forces one to find out.

The fracas began when the newly amended law was sent to the governor for his assent in December; earlier the bill was passed in the provincial assembly in a manner rather reminiscent of the PTI’s behaviour in the National Assembly. The governor had around 10 objections, according to one report in Dawn. Among them was the clause allowing councils to elect “any person” as mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and vice chairman. Critics argued this would allow any non-elected individual to be brought in at the last moment and be elected as the head. The governor also objected to Karachi’s health facilities being handed over to the provincial government.

After this, reports said the Sindh government heeded the objections and agreed to address them. But the opposition wasn’t impressed, especially the MQM. Allegations and counter allegations kept the temperatures up, till the Jamaat-i-Islami dharna began. Though the quiet protest kept the temperatures simmering, matters came to a head with the MQM’s rally last week and the subsequent violence. The same night, oddly enough say some, the Sindh government came to an agreement with the JI about the law. But the MQM and the PTI are still not convinced and are planning to continue their protests.

The agreement between the JI and the government promises to amend the law within two weeks to give health and education back to the local governments, as well as make the mayor of Karachi the chairman of the water and sewerage board and solid waste management boards. In addition, the agreement promises the establishment, meeting and award of the Provincial Financial Commission within 30 days of the election.

The MQM continues to be sceptical; not just of trusting the PPP to deliver all it has promised but also as the decision to make the mayor the chairman of the boards comes without any financial and administrative powers.

Valid point but then real power, especially financial power, has always been missing from our local government systems. If under Musharraf, Karachi was showered with funds, it was due to Musharraf’s soft corner for his home city and little else. Whims and preferences trump legal protections. And outside of Karachi, once the 2002 national elections were held, MNAs and MPAs whittled away the space enjoyed by local governments.

The same tensions hold true even now. What else can explain these gems from the Schedule IX of the act passed by Sindh? “The SSP of police of a district shall coordinate with chairman or mayor of a council for effective functioning of the police as per district policing plan but shall not include administration of the district police, investigation of criminal cases and police functions relating to prosecution, which shall vest with the police.” Similarly, it says of health: “An in-charge of a public sector primary health care institution would submit a quarterly report to the Union Council in a District Council or a Union Committee in case of a corporation or a Town Committee or a Municipal Committee an overall functioning of the institution. The Council shall deliberate on such reports and send their observations to the head of the institution and a copy to the Health Department, Government of Sindh.”

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2022