Commonwealth Local Government Forum

CLGF working in Pakistan in support of local government continues to pose many challenges. The key one is that despite the formal constitution provision for the provincial governments to hold local elections and devolve powers to local government, there seems little sign of this happening.

Indeed the provincial governments of Baluchistan and Sindh have recently both announced new local government dispensations which actually reduce existing local government powers significantly, with no indication as yet of a willingness to hold democratic elections- another constitutional stipulation and a central component of the Commonwealth Aberdeen Principles.

I have just returned  from a CLGF seminar in Karachi, 6-7 July, held in association with the Commonwealth Secretariat and our Pakistan partners including the City District Government Karachi and the Government of Sindh.

This event brought together key federal, provincial, local government and civil society stakeholders and issued a powerful plea for the existing constitutional provisions regarding local government to be implemented. It followed two CLGF-supported study visits by senior Pakistan policy makers to Canada and South Africa, including the local government minister of Baluchistan.

CLGF will continue its active engagement with its Pakistan partners, including providing support to the provincial local government association and working with senior policy makers to provide technical advice and exposure to international good practices in line with the Aberdeen Principles.

Working in places like Karachi is vital, but it can be daunting- I left the city an hour before it was closed down for security reasons after major political disturbances which sadly left some 100 people dead in just 2 days. Establishing a genuine, empowered and democratic local government will not solve all the big political issues which Pakistan faces. It would however go a long way to creating grass roots democratic structures to counteract some of the key challenges currently destabilising the country.

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