Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 17th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Main Conference Theme Author(s) Andrew Golda Urban Institute Washington United States William J. Cartier, Andrew Golda, Ritu Nayyar-Stone Title The possible reversal of decentralization in Pakistan: State policy and citizen feedback File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract A nuclear-capable country and strategic ally of the United States in its war against terror, Pakistan has been grappling with issues of governance, corruption and the legitimacy of the state since Pervez Musharraf took over the government in October 1999 via a coup. Under his government Pakistan introduced the 2001 Local Government Ordinance (LGO), a policy aimed at decentralizing administration and service delivery to regional and municipal governments. Constitutionally Pakistan is a federation, but the military government bypassed the provincial governments when enacting the LGO, and protected it from provincial review and reform until 2009. With the electoral victory of the two mainstream opposition parties in February, 2008, the return to parliamentary democracy and the subsequent ousting of Mr. Musharraf have generated a resurgence of the four provinces in all aspects of policy and decision-making. The provinces are now proposing changes to the 2001 LGO, because of the perception that decentralization has had a detrimental impact on service delivery. The new provincial governments claim that there is broad public sentiment in favor of reducing the autonomy and independence of local government decision-making, and that an increased provincial role in ensuring effective service delivery is vital to the democratic future of Pakistan. The provinces have established a formal policy review process and taken strong positions against the current LGO; several provinces have even called for its complete repeal. But how valid is this position? Has decentralization in Pakistan failed? Do Pakistanis support the provinces’ attempt at a “recentralization” of government at the provincial level? Decentralization has played a key role in the democratic transitions in Eastern Europe, and elsewhere. It is argued that decentralization allows for greater public knowledge and access to information, and at the same time, for better informed elected officials and bureaucrats. However, recent research has produced dissenting views on decentralization policy, emphasizing the potential for decentralization failure. “It can work under certain circumstances if properly designed and applied, but it is certainly not a panacea for public sector ills or a natural enemy of effective government” (Smoke, 2003: 11). This paper will analyze the debate around decentralization in Pakistan including the provincial position on the necessary reforms to local government, reforms currently underway, and the results of a soon to be completed national public opinion survey regarding: the ability of government to represent citizens and the degree to which representative bodies are held accountable; perceptions of trust and issues of corruption; capacity of different levels of government to effectively carry out their duties and be responsive to citizens’ priorities and service needs; and performance in terms of the coverage, quality, and efficiency of core public services. Since both the public opinion survey and policy reform debate on decentralization will be completed by early 2009, the paper will test the following hypothesis: despite some of the failings of local governments, citizens in Pakistan value decentralization and do not want it reversed, thus there is no broad public support for the provincial position in favor of recentralization. Rather, if Pakistan is like other developing countries undergoing democratic transitions, there should be a strong preference for deepening and broadening political representation and participation at the local level.
