Local Government in Balochistan

Naseebullah Khan
The local government system is the third tier of the democratic setup along with federal and provincial governments. It is termed as a nursery of democracy because of its vitality for democratic progress by providing leadership and voice to the people on the local echelon. It is a bitter reality that the local government system has been strengthened in Pakistan during Army rule in power rather than democratic parties. General Ayob khan, General Zia ul Haq, and General Pervez Musharraf cemented local governments by holding its election and flowing mushroom budgets towards this tier. Regrettably, the democratic governments have suffocated local government either by its suspension or by stopping funding to it. In a democratic system, the legislator works as a law-making body and the custodian of the constitution. It is a policy formulating institution for internal and external challenges. Whereas, development projects have been assigned to the local bodies system. Piteously, the scenario is reversed here. The provinces have not implemented article 140A with true spirit yet, which observes, “Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative, and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments.”On one side, the local government representatives have a better understanding of the local issues, who are more accessible for the local people as compared to the members of the provincial assembly. On the other side, it shares the burden of the local issues. Importantly, as Pakistan is lagging behind the SDGs 2030, the devolution of power to local bodies can help in better performance and overcoming many issues such as unemployment, facilitation of health and economic sectors, etc. Come to Balochistan. The local government system of General PervezMusharraf was replaced in 2010 by implementing the Local government act 2010. According to this,1 metropolitan corporation, 4 municipal corporations, 32 District councils, and 584 Union councils were established. Since 2010, only one election for local government has been conducted, whereas, since 2018, the province has been functioning without local bodies. The provincial government is reluctant to conduct local bodies’ polls and empower them. The reason behind this is no doubt, the fear of losing powers and development schemas for the local bodies on the part of the provincial government. The money which had to be spent by local representatives of different parties has been spending by the coalition partners of the provincial government by nominating administrators. Democracy in the country cannot be rooted until and unless the local government system is given priority according to article 140A. The political parasites who have been fond of grabbing the lust of powers in their own hands should realize this reality as the majority of them were the product of the local bodies system.