Abstract
Local government is not a new concept in Pakistan. Since the founding of the country in 1947 Pakistan has always had local governments as the lowest-tier political structure. However, grassroots democracy has been eclipsed at different times in the country’s history. As we write this article, there is no elected local government in Pakistan. The article documents the recent history of decentralisation with special reference to the Devolution of Power Plan (DOPP) introduced by the military government of General Pervez Musharraf in 2001. The author was closely involved with the DOPP at both policy and implementation levels. The paper also looks at political economy issues relating to decentralisation in Pakistan.
Highlights
Local government is not a new concept in Pakistan
The public administration literature provides an enormous number of studies on decentralisation, but research focused on decentralisation in Pakistan within the context of military rule is limited
The main thrust of this article is that the Devolution of Power Plan (DOPP) was not another local government system per se, but rather a major attempt at decentralisation accompanied by a comprehensive package of reforms that had several strands – electoral reform, local government structures and processes, and changes to the police and bureaucracy – all aimed at modernisation and social change
Summary
Pakistan’s political history has been characterised by intermittent military rule. Since independence in 1947, there have been four periods of martial law under different dispensations and three constitutions have been enacted (1956, 1962 and 1973). The history of local government in Pakistan from 1947 to 2001 can be broadly divided into four periods: 1947-1958 1958-1969, the ‘Basic Democracy’ system of General Ayub Khan 1969-1979 1979-1988, the local government system introduced by General Zia-ul-Haq. 1947 – 1958 As explained above, at the time of independence the areas that constituted Pakistan had few developed systems of local government and the local bodies were mostly run by government appointed administrators. 1969 – 1979 After the imposition of the ‘civilian martial law’ under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971, all local bodies were dissolved and the functions and powers of local governments were vested in official administrators This state of affairs continued throughout the reign of Mr Bhutto and the early years of the following period of the martial law regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, which began in 1977.
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