A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, while hearing a case on the law and order situation in Balochistan, expressed displeasure over the non-fulfilment of the constitutional obligation of holding local bodies elections by the provincial governments and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). It observed that the local bodies provided a strong mechanism for resolving the problems of people at the local level, as well as building a responsible and trustworthy relationship between them and the state.
It sought comments from the provincial government and ECP for their inability to resurrect this vital missing link in the system of governance during the last five years, and also a definite schedule for meeting their obligation. After considering their responses, the court ordered that the elections be held by the month of September.
The remarks of the Supreme Court about the role and desirability of setting up local governments as envisaged in Article 140(A) of the constitution and its order for holding elections cannot by disputed on any ground whatsoever. But the reality is that all the provincial governments and ECP, except the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa that has already decided to hold local bodies elections in September, were caught off-guard as none of them were prepared for the polls. Therefore, their pleas for more time to carry out the necessary legislation, delimitation of constituencies and other arrangements did have some merit and need to be given sympathetic consideration.
Nonetheless, since the order was passed by the Supreme Court, some new developments have taken place. That possibly could scuttle the ability of the provinces and ECP to implement its order regarding the timeframe. While the provinces are already seized of the legislative aspect and are feverishly working to have this impediment out of the way, it seems that some of them are going to file a review petition in court.
Reportedly, the ECP has also expressed its inability to hold the elections by November 15, 2013. An informal meeting held by the commission maintained that due to the inability of the provinces to legislate on the issue so far, it would be difficult to hold elections in two months time and, probably, four to five months would be required to undertake the exercise.
The ECP has already written to the provinces to ensure that the laws passed by them in this regard were, more or less, similar, as it would help it to hold local bodies’ elections in a well coordinated manner.
Another factor contributing to the conclusion drawn by the commission was that presently it was occupied with the holding of by-elections for NA 16 and PA 26 seats on August 22 and then dealing with issue related to these elections afterwards.
After the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, the pressure being exerted by PPP on other members of the ECP to go home, and the likely resignation of its Secretary, have added a new dimension to the whole affair. It might take some time to make fresh appointments on these posts and elections, for sure, cannot be held in the absence of a CEC and Secretary.
Against this backdrop, the local government systems in India and Pakistan (evolved during military regimes) have been based on the model of Lord Ripon’s Resolution of May 1882 in regard to structure, functions, finances and powers that operated under strict control of the provincial governments, which need to be changed drastically.
The reason why these reforms could not be undertaken earlier and why political governments did not pay attention to this vital constitutional obligation was that they considered local administrations as rivals, rather than a complementary organ of the provincial governments.
To evolve a local government system tailored to the contemporary concept of local self-rule where the local representatives have the responsibility to provide social services, development, imposition and collections of local taxes and levies and, above all, maintain law and order through control over the police, will require a lengthy exercise in developing consensual approach at the political level. Holding the elections in a hurry under the old system to meet the deadline given by the Supreme Court will not serve the real purpose of having local governments.
It is a matter of great satisfaction and appreciation that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was willing to devolve maximum powers to the local bodies, as observed by him during a briefing by the Punjab government on legislation being contemplated in this regard. That really needs to be translated into reality through an exhaustive process of consultations among all political parties and provincial governments, so that, as desired by the ECP, a uniform system of government can be evolved for the entire nation.
The federal government may take the initiative to convene a meeting of the leaders of all political parties and the Chief Ministers of the four provinces to ascertain their views and then blending them into a consensus strategy that might provide guidance to the provincial legislatures as to the contours of the envisaged local government system.
The foregoing reasons make a good case for review of the Supreme Court decision and giving some grace period, either through review petition by one of the provinces or the ECP. The court must show the magnanimity of accommodating the request to resolve the issue amicably.

The writer is a freelance columnist.