Making federalism work

A recent multiparty survey published by this newspaper brought home the point that the institutions responsible for effective functioning of Pakistan’s federalism are in a fragile state. Much like the fate of National Finance Commission, the Inter Provincial Coordination Division, and the National Economic Council, the Council of Common Interests isn’t functioning the way it ought to. This must change to accommodate Pakistan’s diverse polity, which has a proven capability to crop up different political leadership in different sub-national units.

Any democracy requires people to provide reasoned views of their economic and governance preferences, and the consensus is to be formed through competitive deliberations among participants. In a federation whose constitution aspires to devolve power to the people, the need for such deliberation exists even more.

Yet platforms like the CCI, the NEC, FBR’s tax policy board (which ought to have due provincial representation), the IPC, and the NFC exists more on paper than one that fulfils the reasons of their existence.

The fact that the CCI only met eleven times between FY11 to FY19 when in fact it should have met at least thirty-six times speaks volumes about the way Pakistan’s politicians want to conduct their business – be it politicians from the PPP, the PML-N or the PTI.

Bear in mind that the constitutional requirement for the CCI to meet once in a quarter is a floor not a ceiling. One can reasonably argue for the CCI to meet more frequently than what’s constitutionally stipulated given the scale and scope of unfinished items on Pakistan’s federalism agenda, post 18th Amendment.

Must the politicians be victims of dictatorship hangover and act to dominate rather than seek resolutions through consensus, or at least seek legitimacy. Policies are only seen as legitimate if parties affected by the decision feel that their concerns are reflected in the decision, or at least those concerns were heard. And it is the various institutions and mechanisms of federalism, such as the CCI, which provide platforms for concerns to be heard and deliberated, if not addressed.

Much like laws and the constitution of any country, federalism, its state and structure are never finished or complete; it has to evolve with time to adapt to the constant motion of things it governs. Already, it is rare in politics and policymaking to get things right for the first time. Political thought and political development do not always follow a linear path, and even if it did it is still not ought to be monolithic.

These realities should compel the polity to be constantly engaged in deliberations instead of conceiving it as a one-time exercise, as it how currently appears to be. Ten years since the 18th amendment, both national and sub-national politicians, and the civil society have failed to generate ongoing debates on Pakistan’s federalism.

Save for some recent research and advocacy exercise by Islamabad-based think tank Prime Institute, and a few papers by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, and Social Development Policy Centre, Pakistan’s think tank community is also largely silent on this all important agenda. The media, business associations and advocacy groups and the academia are silent even more. As a result of this apathy from political leadership as well as from civil society, research, conferences, debates are wanting to this end, as are efforts to make citizens realise the reality of federalism.

Here the role of civil society shan’t be discounted, nor should it be relegated to candlelight vigils. The civil society must thrive if state power is to be checked. Pakistan’s political and economic elite do well to appreciate that federalism should not solely be focused on evolving power to lower levels of government, or smooth coordination of different federating units. Federalism should aim to grant sovereignty to citizens, which is essentially what ‘republic’ means.

This realisation seems to be missing from whatever little discourse that exists on Pakistan’s federalism, often even among those who champion the cause of local government. For it is not enough to pass local government laws – the duties, responsibilities and rights emanating from laws have to be told to populace for active engagement to make the system work efficiently, especially in a society marked by low levels of education and civic engagement and high levels of citizen disenfranchisement.