EDITORIAL: Pakistan’s democratic evolution is in many ways the story of its failure to truly devolve power, which has carried profound implications for both governance and development.
While the 18th Amendment transferred significant authority from the Centre to the provinces and envisioned local governments as the foundation of participatory governance, successive ruling parties at the provincial level have resisted sharing power further downwards, exposing their entrenched authoritarian instincts, which have impeded democratic deepening and inclusive development. And this reluctance to devolve power is most starkly reflected in the reluctance to devolve resources, with the Economic Policy and Business Development think tank recently revealing that of the projected Rs9.2 trillion in federal transfers provinces are expected to receive in FY2026-27, only Rs1.8 trillion is being passed on to local governments.
Needless to say, such a meagre allocation is wholly inadequate for addressing the challenges that directly affect citizens’ daily lives, from crumbling municipal infrastructure and inadequate sanitation to weak primary healthcare and education services. As the EPBD aptly observed, “the tier closest to citizens remains the furthest from public resources”. This is particularly damaging because, of the three tiers of governance, local government is arguably the most important. As the level of government closest to citizens and best placed to respond to local needs, it serves as the principal interface between the state and the public. Yet it receives the smallest share of resources and is denied the authority and autonomy needed to function effectively. The consequences are evident in Pakistan’s myriad development deficits, deteriorating urban management, weak service delivery, poor human development outcomes and chronically low standards of living.
A key reason for this failure lies in the constitutional architecture itself. While the Constitution contains detailed chapters on the powers and functions of the federal and provincial governments, it affords local governments only cursory treatment, an omission so striking it seems almost deliberate. Although the 18th Amendment required provinces to establish elected local governments and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility to them, it failed to specify how this devolution should occur or which powers must reside at the local level, leaving these critical questions for provincial assemblies to decide. This lack of constitutional clarity created ample space for political manipulation. Unlike the clearly defined division of powers between the federation and provinces, there is no uniform list of functions that must be devolved to local governments. Nor does the Constitution guarantee them a minimum share of provincial revenues, fix their tenure, and require elections within a specified timeframe after a term expires, or provide safeguards against arbitrary dissolution by provincial governments. As a result, provincial governments have steadily accumulated powers that should rest at the local level, exercising them through unelected bureaucracies or elected representatives whose dependence on provincial patronage outweighs their accountability to the electorate.
The time, then, has come to end the insidious stasis that has long defined local governance in Pakistan. It is indefensible that the country’s largest province hasn’t held local government elections for over a decade, while other provinces have largely confined themselves to meeting the bare constitutional requirement of establishing local bodies without meaningfully empowering them. What we need is a comprehensive constitutional framework that clearly defines the powers, functions, tenure and financial authority of local governments, while guaranteeing regular, free and fair elections within fixed timelines. Local bodies must have a clearly delineated mandate over devolved functions, the ability to raise and manage their own revenues, and a guaranteed share of provincial resources through Provincial Finance Commission awards. There is, quite simply, no longer any excuse for those in power to hide behind constitutional ambiguities to justify their failure to complete the unfinished project of democratic devolution.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026