http://www.pakistanlink.com/Opinion/2000/May/19/02.html

New Local Bodies System
By A. A. Pirzada

A much awaited plan for holding of local bodies elections was unveiled by the Chief Executive General Pervaiz Musharraf a couple of days before the arrival of President Clinton in the Federal Capital of Pakistan. The details of the plan which were later dwelt at length at a press conference by the Chairman, NRB, envisage the procedure for holding of the local bodies elections, qualifications of candidates and the voters. Nothing has been changed as far the qualification of the candidates are concerned. However, the age limit of the voters has been brought down to 18 years. The plan provides a three-tier system of election set to be completed between December, 2000 and July 2001.

The old electoral lists would be revised and new names would be added because of the lowering of voting age. The three-tier system of elections would comprise unions, Tehsil and Districts.

Union councils would comprise 26 members. There would be 16 general seats (8 men and 8 women), eight for workers (4 men and 4 women) and two seats for minorities, one man and a woman. The members of Union Councils would be directly elected. The Union Councils would be divided into five committees: Education, Health, Public Works, Public safety and Justice.

The District administration would be formed from the District Assembly with directly elected Chief Mayor and Deputy Chief Mayor. The Chief Mayor would enjoy vast powers. He would devise a development strategy for the District with the support of the Government, private sector, social organizations and local level institutions.

The plan envisaged by the Chief Mayor would have to be approved by the district Assembly. The District Assembly would be elected on the basis of adult franchise. The member of the District Assembly would also act as Chairman of the Union Council. The total members of the District Assembly would be 66 which would include 50 general seats directly elected. Women would have ten seats (indirect), workers/peasants and minorities would have three seats (indirect) each. The District Assembly would be a legislative body, limited to creating new taxes by laws, rules and district budget. The Chief Mayor would be the head of the District Administration. The District Coordination Officer (Grade-20) would be practically under the Chief Mayor.A total of 13 departments including Finance, Public Works, Health, Education, Magistracy etc., would be headed by District Officers. The District administration will initially be set up with the existing system but it would gradually move towards corporate governance operated on entrepreneurial approach. The entire new system of local bodies is opened for public up to August 2000 after which final shape would be given.

The District Assemblies would be elected simultaneously throughout the country in July 2001. Each of the three tier elections provides reserved seats for women, workers/peasants and minorities. There would be direct elections of Union Councils, Chief Mayor and Deputy Chief Mayors. The reasons given for evolving the new system are nefarious. The age-old system of local bodies which was in vogue in Pakistan even after the alien rule was never public service oriented. The administration unit at the District level was used by the foreign rulers to advance their interests and victimize those who opposed them. It was through the District Administrative machinery that the colonial rules stopped the people from reaching at the higher level to "Gore Sahib". The civil servants who would become in-charge of the District administration were specially trained on the British systems and told that their job was to rule the masses and ensure law and order at all costs. The legacy of the British rule unfortunately continued to prevail even after Pakistan became an independent and sovereign state.

This system which continued to operate was to serve the rulers rather than the masses. Corruption was rampant, licenses and contracts were showered on the politically loyal elements. Taxes were allowed to be evaded by the favorites and kickbacks were taken by those who were elected by the people to serve them.

The result was that the political and administrative system started collapsing at all levels. Dozens of governments were pulled down after the first 20 years of the country’s existence.

In recent times even those political parties, which had vast majority in the assembly and a "heavy mandate" never held the elections of local bodies on party basis. They conducted polls for the local bodies after remaining in power about a couple of years and by the time the elections were held they had lost credibility due to poor performance. So expediency demanded that they should go for elections of local bodies on non-party basis. But now the objective realities and times have changed. It is the time to review the entire system of administration at the District and Tehsil levels. We need a structure which must guarantee access of the people and increasing their degree of participation. The Government should be committed to the development of partnership with the people. This requires the confirmation of a political system that promotes cooperation and harmony rather than mistrust and hatred.

The new system being evolved would go a long way in empowering society. It is most ambitious and revolutionary in nature. It has never been introduced but it sounds like a solid beginning for a return to civilian rule.

www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/Oct/04/13.html

Minorities to boycott local bodies polls

MULTAN: Christians and other minorities will boycott the local bodies elections because present regime has betrayed them by continuing with the separate electorate system.

Justice and Peace Commission chairperson Sr Nasim George said that a delegation called on Local Bodies Minister Omar Asghar Khan on Sunday evening and apprised him of their grievances regarding separate electorates. The minister told them that there was no possibility of making any amendment to the local bodies system at this stage, she added.

She said she told the minister that Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf had assured them that joint electorate would be revived to keep the minorities in mainstream.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/Nov/13/13.html

Benazir for equal voting rights to minorities

ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has called upon Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf government to end the religious apartheid being practiced in the country.

"It is distressing to learn that non Muslim citizens of Pakistan are being denied their right to universal franchise," the leader of the Opposition Pakistan Peoples Party said in a statement issued here Sunday.

She was referring to local election reports where the minorities have been barred from voting in every electoral precinct by the Musharraf government, which took power one year back.

"Banning citizens on the basis of their religious practices from voting for every candidate is discrimination. It is violative of the right to be treated equally and contrary to the provisions of the United Nations Human Rights Conventions, " Bhutto said.

Calling upon the junta to revise its policy on the right to vote in the forthcoming local elections, she said, "Practicing religious apartheid in the twenty first century can adversely affect Pakistan's standing in the international community".

She said that the "local elections will be smeared with the brush of rigging unless non Muslim citizens are allowed to vote freely with Muslim citizens" instead of being "quarantined in separate electoral precincts".

India, Pakistan's arch rival, allows its minority Muslim community to vote in every precinct as equal citizens. The former Prime Minister said: "the disenfranchisement of minorities from the ninety percent of precincts "led to the rise of intolerance and greater clout to fundamentalist voters in those precincts".

She said that the leader of last October's coup General Musharraf, "promised a liberal agenda when he seized power. Unless he moves to asset the right of every citizen irrespective of religion to vote in every precinct, he could be seen as besieged by extremist forces".

The Pakistan Peoples Party has described the law barring non Muslim citizens from voting in every precinct as violative of fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitution as well as violative of the dream of Founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah for a Pakistan where every citizen enjoyed equal rights.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/Nov/15/23.html

PPP leader warns govt for curtailing minorities' rights

KARACHI: Former PPP Federal Minister Nawab Yousaf Talpur has warned the government against curtailing minorities' rights of citizenship.

Commenting on the reports that minorities would not be allowed to contest for the post of Nazims even that of union councils, the PPP leader said that such a decision would be tantamount to discredit Pakistan. He said that PPP would not allow anyone to snatch the minorities citizenship rights.

"We believe in equal voting rights to the minorities and would never allow any group to tarnish the image of the country at international level through such unconstitutional decisions", he said.

Yousuf pledged that PPP would continue its struggle to safeguard equal rights of the citizens without any caste, creed or religious discrimination. Recently, he said, an amendment has been enacted which orders for elections of Nazims and deputy Nazims directly as in the case of the councilors in the forthcoming local bodies' elections.

"Since the elections for the next local councils wills be held on separate electorate basis hence the Muslims will only vote for Muslims while the rest religious minorities would vote for their respective candidates.

If there is separate electorate system in vogue and people are asked to elect their Nazims under this system then how a minority candidate aspiring for a post of Nazim or Deputy Nazim could contest for the post when he is not allowed to get votes from the majority people", he questioned.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/Nov/21/04.html

Minorities threaten LB polls boycott

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Minority Unity and Solidarity Conference has announced that the minorities will boycott the forthcoming local body elections if the government failed to restore the joint electorate system.

Representatives of Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi and Bhai communities attended the conference organized by the Christian Liberation Front Pakistan in Lahore yesterday.

Through a joint declaration the participants in the conference condemned the system of separate electorate and termed it as undemocratic and unjust.

They said that it was playing havoc with the unity and solidarity of Pakistan and was disenfranchising the religious minorities of Pakistan.

"Legalized through the infamous Eighth Constitutional Amendment, this religious apartheid has politically and socially ostracized the religious minorities of Pakistan and if allowed to continue, it will further damage the integrity of our nation and tarnish the image of Pakistan in the community of nations", the declaration said.

It demanded that all future elections in Pakistan, including the forthcoming local body elections, should be held on the basis of the joint electorate.

Earlier, speaking at the conference former Sindh MPA Saleem Khokhar termed the conference as a bid to save the country. He said the separate electorate system was against the aspirations of the founder of Pakistan.

He said restoration of joint electorate was made an election issue but the minority leaders dropped the demand after reaching assemblies.

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