Pak. to have new local govt. system soon

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, AUG. 4.The last and the most crucial phase of the election to the local bodies in Pakistan is over and the military ruler and President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is all set to announce operation of a new local government system in 10 days from now.

In the last phase on Thursday an estimated 1 lakh newly elected union councilors voted to elect Nazims and Naib Nazims (head and deputy district heads) in all the four provinces of Pakistan.In his address to the nation on the occasion of Pakistan Independence Day, August 14, Gen. Musharraf is expected to set in motion through an announcement the local government system. He is also expected to unveil a package of devolution of powers to the local bodies on financial and political matters.

There are misgivings about the new system. Political parties are worried that the military government,(read Gen. Musharraf,) could convert the representatives of newly elected local bodies into an electoral college to legitimise his own take-over as President of Pakistan.

The two previous military rulers of Pakistan-Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq-have taken this route to perpetuate their rule and role in the politics of the country. Political parties and observers wonder if Gen. Musharraf is all set to follow the example of his predecessors.

At another level the worry of political parties is that the new local government system could emerge as a `parallel government' and at some stage come in confrontation with the provincial governments. The scheme of local government as as envisaged by Musharraf Government provides for vast powers to the Nazims and Naib Nazims.

The office of District Magistrate/commissioner is being abolished for all practical purposes. The police and other law enforcing agencies would be functioning directly under the command of the new rulers of the local government system. The worry of the political parties is what would the provincial governments be left with if all the powers are to be exercised by the new set- up.

The picture about the outcome of the polls is hazy and perhaps would continue to be so as the representatives of political parties have been barred from taking part. The election to the local bodies was part of the grand promise made by Gen. Musharraf weeks after he took power in October 1999 to usher in `genuine grassroots democracy'.

The elections, however have not gonee according to the calculations of the military government though there have been sufficient indications and evidence to suggest that the military supervised the polls closely. There have even been reports of how the military officers in particular districts intervened to ensure the success or defeat of a particular candidate.

Political parties, which initially denounced the whole exercise as meaningless and dangerous to democracy, appear to have participated in a big way through proxy candidates. Reports from every district suggest that representatives of all the big parties were in the fray.

As the English daily, The Nation pointed out in its editorial on the subject that ``prominent among those who fielded their nominees were the PPP, PML (N), PML (QA), ANP and Jamaat-e- Islami. The fact that many of the candidates put up by them won the elections shows that despite the government propaganda against these parties, there is still no significant erosion of their support base''.

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Section  : International
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