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Business Recorder
24-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Decentralization deferred: The unfulfilled promise of 18th Amendment and local governance
In 2010, Pakistan passed the landmark 18th Constitutional Amendment, a legislative milestone that was widely hailed as a turning point in the country's journey toward democratic deepening and decentralization. The amendment was envisioned as a transformative measure one that would transfer legislative, administrative, and fiscal authority from the federal center to the provinces, and eventually, to local governments. It promised greater autonomy, more accountable governance, and enhanced service delivery at the grassroots. Fifteen years on, however, the vision remains unrealized. Instead of embedding a functional three-tier governance system, the amendment has revealed persistent structural and political barriers that continue to undermine genuine devolution. Passed alongside the 18th Amendment, the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award represented a critical fiscal realignment. It increased the share of provinces in federal divisible resources from 49 percent to 57.5 percent and adopted a new formula for resource distribution: 82 percent based on population, 10.3 percent on poverty and backwardness, 5 percent on revenue generation, and 2.7 percent on inverse population density. While this was a progressive step at the time, recognizing disparities among provinces and aiming to rebalance federalism, it inadvertently entrenched a number of limitations. One major issue is the weak incentive for provinces to improve tax collection. With only 5 percent weight assigned to revenue generation, provincial governments find little fiscal reward in undertaking the politically sensitive and administratively burdensome task of expanding their tax base. Simultaneously, the federal government faces growing fiscal deficits due to heavy debt servicing, defense spending, and subsidies, leaving limited space for growth-oriented investments. This results in a structural deadlock: provinces are underfunded and unmotivated, while the center remains overstretched and unwilling to relinquish financial control. The stasis is further compounded by the fact that the NFC Award has not been revised since 2010. While originally envisioned as a mechanism for dynamic fiscal redistribution reflecting evolving developmental needs, the 7th NFC has remained frozen in time. The absence of an updated award means that provincial disparities persist, provincial service delivery remains constrained, and critical expenditures aligned with devolved responsibilities are routinely underfinanced. What worsens this situation is the lack of a functioning fiscal mechanism at the local level. Although the spirit of the 18th Amendment and Article 140-A is to ensure a flow of power from the federal to the provincial to the local tier, the last step in this chain, the empowerment of elected local governments, has been neglected. Article 140-A of the Constitution obligates provinces to establish systems of local government and devolve political, administrative, and fiscal responsibilities to elected representatives. The rationale is clear: local governments are best positioned to address immediate community concerns, including solid waste management, drinking water, education infrastructure, and local roads. They form the interface between the state and citizens. Yet, in practice, local government institutions have been rendered ceremonial. Despite the constitutional amendment in 2010, provinces took several years to hold local elections: Balochistan in 2015, Punjab in the same year, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2015 (and again in 2021), and Sindh only in late 2021. Even where elections were held, they were often delayed, disrupted, or diluted through legislative amendments and administrative interference. The scope and depth of devolution across provinces also remain inconsistent. In Punjab, despite enacting local government legislation, real authority continues to rest with the provincial bureaucracy, and the elected tier has been frequently dissolved or sidelined. In contrast, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa adopted a comparatively more ambitious model, introducing village and neighborhood councils to promote citizen participation. However, systemic underfunding and limited decision-making powers have curtailed their effectiveness. Across all provinces, delays in local elections, lack of clarity in roles, and provincial reluctance to share financial authority have constrained the functionality of local governance structures. These institutional shortcomings are not accidental; they reflect underlying political dynamics. Strong and empowered local governments can become centers of alternative political power, threatening the patronage networks and control mechanisms of provincial elites. For instance, the provincial government in Punjab has repeatedly postponed local government elections, citing legislative amendments and procedural concerns. The Election Commission of Pakistan has often been left in limbo, unable to proceed due to pending provincial revisions in local government laws. This problem is rooted in the very design of Article 140-A, which grants provinces significant leeway in defining and modifying local government systems, enabling manipulation and delay without consequence. While the 18th Amendment was rightly celebrated as a step toward democratization, its implementation reveals a glaring mismatch between constitutional intent and political practice. The need for a revised NFC Award is now critical. A new formula should reduce the excessive dependence on population as the primary criterion and instead incorporate dynamic indicators like tax effort measuring the actual effort of provinces to raise revenues relative to their capacity. Increasing the weight of tax effort from the current 5 percent to at least 10 percent would incentivize provinces to mobilize their own resources, reducing their reliance on federal transfers and encouraging greater fiscal responsibility. Equally, it is imperative to restore and strengthen local governments by shielding them from provincial encroachment. The Council of Common Interests (CCI) can serve as a neutral platform for reviewing and standardizing the design of local government frameworks across provinces. Reforms should include fixed electoral cycles, protected tenures, independent fiscal allocations, and the authority to retain and utilize locally generated revenues. These funds can be channeled into improving service delivery in vital sectors such as health, sanitation, and education. More importantly, legal, and institutional guarantees must be established to protect the autonomy and decision-making authority of elected local bodies, ensuring that they are not undermined by political expediency. None of these problems is novel. Economists, civil society organizations, parliamentary committees, and government task forces have repeatedly identified the structural gaps in Pakistan's decentralization framework. The problem lies not in diagnosis, but in the absence of political will to implement reform. Pakistan's governance remains trapped in a cycle where governments prioritize short-term political survival over long-term institutional strengthening. Until this mindset changes, the 18th Amendment will remain an incomplete promise, its transformational potential hindered by administrative inertia and political resistance. Decentralization is not merely a constitutional provision; it is a governance imperative. For Pakistan to truly benefit from the framework laid out in the 18th Amendment, it must move beyond symbolic commitments and toward systemic reform. A re-imagined NFC Award, empowered local governments, and genuine intergovernmental coordination are necessary steps to fulfill the democratic potential embedded in the Constitution. Without these, the foundational vision of a responsive, accountable, and citizen-oriented state will remain elusive. Syeda Dua Raza, Abdullah Khalid, Saad Ali Ahmed (The writers are associated with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad (SDPI) as research Interns. The article does not necessarily represent the views of the organisation) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
21-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
There's urgent need to revitalise agri sector: minister
LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof Ahsan Iqbal has stressed the urgent need to revitalize Pakistan's agricultural sector, pointing out that the devolution of powers under the 18th Constitutional Amendment has not been implemented in its true spirit, especially with regard to agriculture. Talking to the media during a visit to a cotton research farm located on Defence Road Lahore on Sunday, the minister said that although the 18th Amendment transferred authority and resources to the provinces, agriculture has not received the attention it deserves. 'After the 18th Amendment, agriculture became a provincial subject, and it was the responsibility of the provinces to uplift the sector. Unfortunately, they failed to deliver tangible progress,' he said. He was accompanied by renowned agricultural expert Engineer Javed Saleem Qureshi, who has developed a new variety of cotton seed after 25 years of extensive research and experimentation. Prof Ahsan Iqbal said, 'Due to lack of focus and commitment at the provincial level, we could neither improve per-acre yield nor introduce high-quality seeds for key crops. Our research institutions also failed to play an active role.' The minister stressed the need for concrete planning to boost agricultural productivity, especially in critical crops like cotton, canola, and rice. 'We must now plan for the next ten years with clear goals. Time is slipping by, and unless we act decisively, we will continue to lag behind. Competing with the world requires us to function as a united and forward-thinking nation.' He said that the absence of long-term national planning for the next 10 to 20 years is a serious concern. 'Pakistan must achieve self-sufficiency in agriculture. We cannot afford to rely on imports for essential crops any longer,' he added. During the visit, Ahsan Iqbal lauded the groundbreaking work of Engineer Javed Saleem Qureshi, who has introduced a climate-resilient cotton seed variety capable of thriving in temperatures up to 50°C. The new seed, developed and successfully tested in Lahore while considering the impact of climate change, has the potential to boost cotton yield from the current 15 maunds per acre to an impressive 40–50 maunds per acre. 'This is nothing short of an agricultural revolution,' the minister remarked. 'The government will fully support experts from the private sector who bring such innovations, and we will provide all possible cooperation to ensure their success.' He also pointed out the immense potential in other crops such as canola, noting that increasing domestic production of canola oil could save the country billions of Dollars in foreign exchange currently spent on imports. In response to a question regarding recent heavy rains, the minister said that the federal government has formed a committee comprising representatives from the federation and all four provinces to assess the damages. He added that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is currently collecting data to determine the scale of impact and future response strategies. Ahsan Iqbal said the government is fully committed to supporting agricultural innovation and emphasized that agriculture must become the cornerstone of Pakistan's economic self-reliance in the coming years. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PHC suspends ACB's tax powers
The Abbottabad Bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) has granted an interim relief to a group of property owners in connection with a petition challenging the Abbottabad Cantonment Board (ACB) to levy and collect property tax, restraining the Board from sealing the petitioners' properties and collecting property tax. A constitutional writ petition was filed in the PHC's Abbottabad Bench on January 24, 2024, on behalf of a group of property owners. Lawyer Hashim Iqbal Jadoon filed the petition before on behalf of a group of property owners. The petition challenged the Abbottabad Cantonment Board (ACB)'s authority to levy and collect property tax, arguing that such taxation powers were unconstitutional and beyond the legislative competence of the Board. The legal foundation of the challenge rested on the interpretation of Entry No 50 of the Federal Legislative List (FLL), which reserves taxation on immovable property to provincial legislatures. The petitioners contended that the ACB, being a federal entity, had no constitutional mandate to levy such taxes, especially after the 18th Constitutional Amendment which devolved key taxation powers to the provinces. However, the situation took a turn when the 26th Constitutional Amendment was passed in October 2024. This amendment added the phrase "local taxes, fees, cess, charges, tolls in such areas" to Entry No 2 of the FLL, leading to confusion and widespread concern that cantonment boards now had the constitutional authority to impose property tax. In response, Advocate Hashim Iqbal Jadoon once again led the legal charge, filing a fresh constitutional petition (WP No 1266-A/2024) on behalf of the residents of Abbottabad Cantonment. He argued that despite the new wording, the 26th Amendment didn't override Entry No 50 and that only provincial governments could constitutionally impose property taxes. The petition challenged the vires and interpretation of the 26th Amendment and its impact on legislative competence. In a landmark development, the PHC once again granted interim relief to the petitioners on July 2. This stay order reaffirmed the constitutional argument that federal bodies like cantonments couldn't usurp taxation powers reserved for the provinces under the constitutional framework. This case is likely to shape the future of tax jurisdiction in Pakistan and may have nationwide implications for thousands of residents living in cantonment areas.
Express Tribune
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
JUI-F suspends MPA for praising CM Bugti
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-FF) has suspended party lawmaker Zabid Ali Reki for breaching party discipline after he publicly lauded Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and placed a traditional Balochi necklace around his neck as a gesture of gratitude for releasing development funds to his district. The suspension was announced by JUI-F Balochistan chief, Senator Maulana Abdul Wasey, during a press conference in Quetta. He clarified that Reki's actions were taken without the party's consent and did not represent its official position. "All lawmakers are bound to follow party guidelines," Wasey asserted. During the same media briefing, the JUI-F leader also criticized the newly enacted Pakistan Mines and Minerals Act 2025, terming it a violation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He argued that the amendment guarantees provincial autonomy over natural resources, and any legislation infringing upon that right would be firmly resisted. He reaffirmed JUI-F's commitment to constitutionalism, provincial rights, and the equitable distribution of resources in Balochistan. Zabid Ali Reki has not issued any public response following his suspension.
Business Recorder
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Swat river tragedy: ANP demands registration of FIR against Gandapur
PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded registration of FIR against Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amin Gandapur over 'sheer negligence' regarding the River Swat tragedy. ANP Central spokesperson Ihsanullah Khan expressed deep concern over the current situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tragic incident in Swat. He claimed that despite holding power for twelve years, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has failed to fully restore the province's administrative machinery. This failure has become a major obstacle in resolving the basic problems of the people, causing immense hardships for the population, he said. He said that during its tenure, the ANP provided financial and administrative autonomy to the province through the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the NFC Award. As a result, there was a substantial increase in the provincial budget, which enabled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to acquire ample resources for development and public welfare. Unfortunately, he alleged, t the PTI government wasted these resources on mismanagement, corruption, and political theatrics instead of using them for the people's benefit. Consequently, the public has not received the benefits they rightfully deserved. He further said that crucial institutions like Rescue 1122, established to protect lives and property, were also used by PTI for political activities. He said the recent Swat incident has once again exposed PTI's incompetence. He said ANP demands that the provincial government immediately review its policies, restore the administrative machinery, and use public resources transparently for the welfare of the people. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
