Refining the Devolution Plan
Yugoslavia is a classic example in modern times why we should be very careful when dealing with diverse races within one boundary. While Marshal Tito was alive he kept Yugoslavia going on the strength of his personality and the use of police-state methods. Do we have a Marshal Tito in Pervez Musharraf, in fact does Pervez Musharraf want to be a Marshal Tito? In democracies neither cult nor authoritarian measures work. The disintegration of Yugoslavia only confirms that devolution of power could probably end up in a fatal miscalculation. Equate Punjab to Serbia in the present feeling of the Provinces towards the Punjab and Yugoslavia becomes a mirror image of our problems except that in Yugoslavia there was also a religious divide and in Pakistan we have a very hostile neighbour. Given that the resemblance of Yugoslavia is uncanny, how can we bring the much needed devolution of power into the body politics of Pakistan?
In the absence of making more Provinces, the only course for us is to have Divisional Governments which will be both economic only and politically feasible entities, almost all the Divisions are capable of generating enough revenues for self-sustenance. Whether we are in an urban or rural area, we are very much a tribal society, divided on ethnic and sectarian lines, a concentrated and united minority could well exercise absolute rule over a fragmented majority. So we have to get a better mix the proposed Assembly i.e. go higher thereon the District. Any plan for devolution must provide autonomy within reasonable parameters and not make it a stepping stone for an unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), Federal and Provincial Governments retaining some controls that will act as a bar against separatist tendencies. How does one exercise the fiat of the Federation by essentially making nearly a 100 or so, the Districts will actually become in all but name if the District Government Plan is implemented in its present form? Would Balochistan be able to control 26 such Districts directly? Or for that matter Punjab 34?
When Gen Naqvi was asked the reasons why he preferred District Governments to Divisional Government, he mentioned time and distance for the proposed assembly members to travel and/or their facilities for lodging. That argument does not stand on merit. Except in Balochistan and in the mountainous areas of NWFP there is more than one hour’s journey in any Division from whatever is its epicentre or probable capital town. Moreover, there are 27 Divisions (including FATA counting as one) in the country, it will be far more economical to construct 27 Divisional Assemblies with the Divisional Government offices adjacent to it as well as small residential cum office units for every assembly person. Compared the cost of nearly a hundred such complexes, not including recurring expenditures.
Have the various Local Bodies tiers proposed by the NRB but let us have Assembly at the Divisional level giving us not only control and economy of scale but direct linkages between representation and exercise of authority. We do not need a debating society but effective administration by the people’s representatives. All three tiers i.e. the Union Council, the Tehsil Council and the District Council must be elected on the slate pattern i.e. the first 20 getting the maximum votes must sit on the Union Council, with one proviso i.e. (1) in the urban areas, it would be the first ten men and the first ten women, (2) in the developed rural areas the first 14 men and first 6 women and (3) in the undeveloped areas the first 18 men and the first two women. Another proviso would be that if women who are capable of standing for election are non-existent in any Union then, the 18 men would by consensus nominate two women for the seats on the Council. Only those who have been elected to the Union Council would be eligible to stand for the Tehsil Council elections and only those elected to the Union Council would be eligible for District Council elections. The only difference for Tehsil and District would be that the women will not be nominated anymore but will have to stand for elections. Having elected all three tiers we now have to have a direct vote for the Union Council Chairman and his Deputy, the Tehsil Council Chairman and his Deputy, the District Mayor and his Deputy. Only those will be eligible who will have already been directly voted in to the Union Councils, Tehsil Council or the District Council respectively. These again will be on a slate pattern but on run-off basis i.e. the candidates must get more than 50% of the votes and if not there will be a second round between the first two candidates. We would have then simultaneously accomplished the elections to the next three tiers, i.e. the Divisional Assembly the Provincial Assembly and the National Assembly without any further vote. The Union Council Chairman and his Deputy would become members of the Divisional Assembly. The Tehsil Council Chairman and his Deputy will become members of the Provincial Assembly and the District Mayor and his Deputy become members of the National Assembly. In this manner not only are the directly elected representatives exercising administrative authority in their own respective constituencies but they are actually sitting in an Assembly two tiers above their level representing their constituents.
Four elected representatives will represent each Divisional Assembly in the Senate, two on general seats and 1 reserved for women, again on a slate pattern on a direct vote from among those elected to District Council seats. Technocrats will be nominated by each Divisional Assembly out of those applying, one will be voted in by a direct vote. As such the Senate will have directly elected Senators, at least 20% women. The two Senators getting the maximum votes in each Division will become the Divisional Chief Mayor and Deputy Chief Mayor. There are presently 27 Divisions (including FATA as a Division) and 112 Districts (including the 7 of FATA) in the country. With two Districts of Karachi, South and West (and including Karachi Port and Port Qasim) to be Federally Administered Areas joining Islamabad Capital Territory, thus making two more Divisions, the number will rise to 29. The MNAs will not change as the Districts remain the same but we will have to add eight Senators. We will thus have 116 Senators, 224 Members of National Assembly. On a proportional representation basis we should add another 100 to the National Assembly so that it consists of 324 MNAs each District having two MNAs. Let us not make the grave mistake of having elections to any tier on non-party basis, that is the surest way to divide the country on ethnic and sectarian basis. Only elected members of the Senate and National Assembly of each Province should then be eligible to stand in direct elections for President, Prime Minister, Governors and Chief Ministers of the Provinces.
There will be a District Government but without an Assembly. All the civil servants including the District Coordinator must be directly under the District Mayor. All financial powers must also be exercised directly by the District Mayor and in his/her absence by the Deputy, with the civil servant only in a pre-audit capacity. The police will be under the National Public Safety Commission. Provincial Public Safety Commission and a Divisional Public Safety Commission respectively at various levels. Wherever the Division comes a large metropolitan city, it can be known as Metropolitan Public Safety Commission with police and administrative power apportioned in an equitable and workable manner.
Working on the KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) formula, we will have achieved continuity throughout the electoral spectrum, both on directly elected representatives and exercise of their authority in a meaningful manner, all this along with tremendous economy and simplicity of implementation. Let Gen Naqvi and his advisors examine our proposal without rejecting it just because it does not agree with theirs. By Dec 2001, the Local Bodies upto the Divisional Assemblies will have been elected. Give the process at least a year of working to see how the elected representatives are keeping to their election promises, with that performance as an indicator let’s call the Assemblies and have the second round in Dec 2002 for the Senate, President, PM, Governors and Chief Ministers.
In theory the proposals of the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) are brilliant, in practice they could become an open invitation to disaster. There is no substitute in any democracy giving power back to the people at the grassroots level, but the planning must be in a pragmatic manner, according to the realities on the ground. Risk-taking in experimentation must be well calculated, one that can neutralize adverse consequences not compound them. Please do not take us down the road to apocalypse.
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