Local Governments and Women´s Participation
Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal
June 11, 2009
Women are a major force in people´s participation in the life of society today not only do they comprise the majority of those excluded from participation, but they play key roles in emerging groups, organizations and movement´s worldwide, and are becoming increasingly active in their communities, governments and the international arena. They are the front liners in shaping, developing and implementing peace process in different parts of the world. They are promoting the world to bring out and develop new priorities and perspectives in political and social process.
Decentralization, in its simplest definition, is a form of governance that transfers authority and responsibility from central to intermediate and local governments. The idea of decentralization is linked to subsidiary, which means that what can be done efficiently and effectively at the lowest level of government should be done at that level and not at higher levels. Economists justify decentralization on the grounds of allocative efficiency, enhanced policy responsiveness and effectiveness especially of poverty reduction programmes. The assumption is that because decisions are being taken in a local constituency citizens will have more control over decisions taken and it will reflect their preferences.
However, governance is about the exercise of power and thus a political project determining which citizens will be included in the process of decision-making, whose interests will be met through allocative decisions and how and by whom those in authority will be held accountable for unfair, unjust and exclusionary practices. Since to govern is to exercise power there is no a priori reason why localized forms of governance should be more just, equitable and inclusive. Mapped onto existing systems of political patronage and culture decentralized government can prove to be just as discriminatory, and in the context of South Asia, operate along the fault lines of gender, caste and class.
In Pakistan the military government of General Musharraf launched a campaign for political devolution in 2000 that was aimed at transferring administrative and financial powers to local government. In reviving local governments Musharraf was following in the footsteps of his predecessors. Successive military rulers have typically instituted lower tiers of government as a substitute for democratization at the provincial and national levels. Under the Devolution of Power Plan announced in August 2000, elected local governments were to be established at three levels –village (Union council), sub district (Tehsil council) and district (Zila council). The Local Government Plan, as it was entitled, intended to build genuine democratic institutions and empower the people at the grassroots. The final version of the Plan also reserved thirty three per cent of the seats for the direct election of women to the Union Councils.
The Political Economy of Decentralization
The decision to decentralize and the form that decentralization takes, is always a political decision and is propelled by internal political considerations and regime needs to create or renew legitimacy. Governments in South Asia ushering in decentralization reforms have done so claiming that these measures would empower people, involve a wide range of social classes in political and developmental decisions by bringing government closer to people, cut down bureaucratic delays and promote and rejuvenate democracy. Local government has a long and chequered career in Pakistan´s history as has parliamentary democracy. Successive military governments have used local government to legitimize their authority, create local elites loyal to them and to undermine representative politics and the federal character of the Pakistan state.
In 1947, after the independence of Pakistan, very few areas that constituted Pakistan developed systems of local government and these were mainly confined to Punjab. Wherever the LG system existed, they were not constituted on the basis of adult franchise and remained under firm bureaucratic control. The deputy commissioners of the area, who represented the bureaucracy, played a crucial role in policy formulation and financial matters of LG bodies.
Ayub Khan´s Period (1958-1969)
During the period of the first military government in Pakistan under General Ayub Khan, Pakistan saw the development of a comprehensive system of local government with the presidential system replacing the parliamentary form of government. Since provincial and national governments had been disbanded, the military regime of General Ayub Khan realized the need for some sort of people´s involvement in the affairs of the state. This resulted in the birth of the system of Basic Democracies, under which a new system of local government was introduced across the country. In the first instance, LG institutions in rural areas were set up under the Basic Democracies Order (BDO) 1959, creating union and district councils in rural areas. A year later, the Municipal Administration Ordinance (MAO) 1960, was promulgated creating municipal corporations, municipal committees and town committees in urban areas. There was minimal reservation of seats for women in this system. Forty thousand directly elected "Basic Democrats" (councilors) from East and West Pakistan each comprised this system. These councilors also formed the Electoral College for the elections of the higher tiers of governance, i.e. the Provincial Assemblies (PAs) and the National Assembly (NA) as well as the office of the President. However, the system went into disfavor and was disbanded after the collapse of President Ayub´s government in 1969. Many of its structures and features were retained in one form or another in the succeeding years.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto´s Period (1971-1977)
After the break up of Pakistan in 1971, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was elected to power. The parliamentary form of democracy was restored following general elections and the system of basic democracies was done away with. In 1973, the country had its constitution unanimously approved by the national legislature. The constitution made local government a provincial subject and, subsequently, the provincial government introduced their respective local government laws.
These were the;
1. Punjab Local Government Act, 1975
2. Baluchistan Local Government Act, 1975
3. NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 1972
4. Sindh People´s Local Government Ordinance, 1972
However, during this period, which stretched over six years, none of the provinces conducted LG elections.
Zia-ul-Haq´s Period (1977-1988)
The military government of General Zia-ul-Haq introduced a set of almost identical LG laws for the four provinces.
These were the;
1. NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 1979
2. Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 1979
3. Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 1979
4. Baluchistan Local Government Ordinance, 1980.
The first significant measure to ensure women´s representation in the local governments came in 1979, when the provincial governments were directed to reserve seats for women, minorities and peasants in local councils. The proportion was to be determined separately by each province. All the provinces, with the exception of NWFP, broadly made similar provisions. Two seats at the union council level and 10 percent seats (or a minimum of two seats) in District Councils, Town Committees, Municipal Committees, Municipal Corporations and Metropolitan Corporations were reserved for women. However, in NWFP, no reservation was made for women at the union council/town committee level. Under these laws, three successive LG elections were conducted in all four provinces in 1979, 1983 and 1987, respectively. The elections on reserved seats for women were held indirectly (by already elected, mostly male members of the councils)
Benazir Bhutto´s Two Terms (1988-1990 and 1993-1996)
No LG elections were held during the first tenure of Benazir Bhutto, who was elected as Pakistan´s first woman Prime Minister in 1988. During her second tenure, the Punjab ordinance on local government included a provision for 33 percent reservation of seats for women at all levels in Local Bodies (LBs). However, the ordinance lapsed without any elections being held under it and legislation to incorporate this provision was never enacted. In 1996, the Punjab government introduced the system of LBs based on Panchayats (village committees) in villages and Ward/Mohalla committees in cities/towns. But, no elections took place either in Punjab or in the rest of the country.
Nawaz Sharif´s Two Terms (1990-1993 and 1997-1999)
LB elections were held only in Punjab (1991) and Baluchistan (1992) during the first tenure of PM Nawaz Sharif, with the proportion of women´s representation staying the same as was determined by the 1979 ordinances. The LBs were dissolved in 1993 in Punjab and in 1996 in Baluchistan. According to official statistics, before the dissolution there were 8,295 women members (10.4 percent) out of the total membership of 79,155 nationally. The province-wise ratio was 11 percent in Punjab, 12 percent in Sindh, 1.32 percent in NWFP and 16 percent in Baluchistan. In 1997, the Punjab LGO 1996 was replaced with the 1979 Ordinance and through an amendment the system of non-elected Panchayats was introduced, which was eventually declared illegal by the Lahore High Court (LHC). In 1998, the federal government declared a 100 percent increase (or doubling of women´s reserved seats) in the LG set up. However, the number of reserved seats for women in the urban and district councils, to which elections were held in Punjab, went up from the earlier 905 to 1,368, an increase of just 463 (3.7 percent) seats. This was nowhere close to the declared 100 percent increase or doubling of seats. Meanwhile, elections to Union Councils (UCs) in Punjab, in which nearly 5,000 seats (12.5 percent) were reserved for women out of a total number of 40,000, never took place. In Baluchistan on the other hand, the provincial government raised the number of reserved seats for women from 16.4 percent to 25.8 percent (1,873 out of 7,246). This was a major stride forward in a province where it had been difficult to even formally have candidates for the lesser number. In NWFP, where there had been 68 reserved seats for women out of a total of 5,603 (1.2 percent), the number was raised to 184 out of a total of 6256 (2.9 percent). In Sindh, where there were 1,733 reserved seats for women out of a total of 13,853 (12.7 percent), the number was raised to 3,546 out of a total of 15,417 (23 percent). However, elections were not held in NWFP and Sindh.
LBs Elections 2000-2001
The elections were held under the supervision of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). These were held in five phases from December 2000 to August 2001, for the UCs on the basis of adult franchise, separate electorates and non-party candidature. The elections for Tehsil/town and district councils were held in two phases during August- September 2001, through an indirect election modality. The elections were held under separate provincial ordinances promulgated for the purpose. These were:
1. The Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001
2. The Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001
3. The NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001
4. The Baluchistan Local Government Ordinance, 2001
The 36,105 women councilors include 126 women elected on seats reserved for minorities and 16 women elected as Nazims, Naib Nazims in different councils.
Women´s Representation in Pakistan
The devolution of power plan 2000, focusing decentralization through local governments, changed the landscape for the betterment of women´s political participation and mainstreaming by reserving 33% seats for them at all three tiers of local government i.e. District, Tehsil and Union Council Level. This led to inclusion of 40,000 women involvement in political decision making at the grass root level. Further to that women were given adequate voice at national level politics by reserving 60 seats for them in National Assembly and 17 in Senate.
A landmark policy intervention in the history of Pakistan has been introduced under the new local government system, which has provision for a 33% reservation of seats for women on all local councils. These reserved seats are directly elected at village level for Union Councils and indirectly elected at District and Tehsil levels for District and Tehsil Councils. The 33% seats for women resulted in the election of approximately 40,000 women out of which 36,000 women have been elected as local councilors at the lowest tier of the Union Council alone, which is a milestone in Pakistan´s political development as for the first time such a high number of directly elected women are participating in local government. A total of 39,964 seats were reserved for women at all tiers of the local government. On an over all basis the reserved seats for women comprise of 27.7%. The reason behind this decrease is that the value of 33% was calculated on the base number in each District / Tehsil and Town/ Union Council rather than its gross number of members. At Union Council level the two seats of Nazim, Naib Nazims and minority is also excluded while extracting 33% portion of women reserved seats.
CONCLUSION
The primary challenge facing women today is to maintain and increase the momentum of their participation and empowerment. On the one hand, there is reason to believe that the process of women´s empowerment will continue to go forward: many conditions and mechanisms for women´s empowerment has been established; greater emphasis on people´s participation by policy makers and growing gender awareness are creating a favorable climate for women to bring their concerns and perspectives on to the agenda; and the great strides forward that women have made in empowering themselves are opening up more opportunities for women´s participation. All this can be seen in the increased numbers of women participations in their communities, in groups and organizations, in political and public life.
In Pakistan women are now potential leaders of their communities. The most outstanding achievement of the local government system is mainstreaming of women within the political system. Women have had their full share in its processes starting from their mobilization as candidates, canvassing electoral process, getting trained for effective participation and representing their interest in the house. The anticipation was that inclusion of a critical mass of women at grass root level in the political decision-making will lead to creation of powerful pressure group that impact at the grassroots policy making level and at political party level to be instrumental to incorporate gender concerns in manifestos, policy formulation and its implementation. Most important was that the opportunity would facilitate them in being mainstreamed from grass root to national level political decision-making and their consequent representation in political party´s hierarchy and internal decision-making.
Decentralization, in its simplest definition, is a form of governance that transfers authority and responsibility from central to intermediate and local governments. The idea of decentralization is linked to subsidiary, which means that what can be done efficiently and effectively at the lowest level of government should be done at that level and not at higher levels. Economists justify decentralization on the grounds of allocative efficiency, enhanced policy responsiveness and effectiveness especially of poverty reduction programmes. The assumption is that because decisions are being taken in a local constituency citizens will have more control over decisions taken and it will reflect their preferences.
However, governance is about the exercise of power and thus a political project determining which citizens will be included in the process of decision-making, whose interests will be met through allocative decisions and how and by whom those in authority will be held accountable for unfair, unjust and exclusionary practices. Since to govern is to exercise power there is no a priori reason why localized forms of governance should be more just, equitable and inclusive. Mapped onto existing systems of political patronage and culture decentralized government can prove to be just as discriminatory, and in the context of South Asia, operate along the fault lines of gender, caste and class.
In Pakistan the military government of General Musharraf launched a campaign for political devolution in 2000 that was aimed at transferring administrative and financial powers to local government. In reviving local governments Musharraf was following in the footsteps of his predecessors. Successive military rulers have typically instituted lower tiers of government as a substitute for democratization at the provincial and national levels. Under the Devolution of Power Plan announced in August 2000, elected local governments were to be established at three levels –village (Union council), sub district (Tehsil council) and district (Zila council). The Local Government Plan, as it was entitled, intended to build genuine democratic institutions and empower the people at the grassroots. The final version of the Plan also reserved thirty three per cent of the seats for the direct election of women to the Union Councils.
The Political Economy of Decentralization
The decision to decentralize and the form that decentralization takes, is always a political decision and is propelled by internal political considerations and regime needs to create or renew legitimacy. Governments in South Asia ushering in decentralization reforms have done so claiming that these measures would empower people, involve a wide range of social classes in political and developmental decisions by bringing government closer to people, cut down bureaucratic delays and promote and rejuvenate democracy. Local government has a long and chequered career in Pakistan´s history as has parliamentary democracy. Successive military governments have used local government to legitimize their authority, create local elites loyal to them and to undermine representative politics and the federal character of the Pakistan state.
In 1947, after the independence of Pakistan, very few areas that constituted Pakistan developed systems of local government and these were mainly confined to Punjab. Wherever the LG system existed, they were not constituted on the basis of adult franchise and remained under firm bureaucratic control. The deputy commissioners of the area, who represented the bureaucracy, played a crucial role in policy formulation and financial matters of LG bodies.
Ayub Khan´s Period (1958-1969)
During the period of the first military government in Pakistan under General Ayub Khan, Pakistan saw the development of a comprehensive system of local government with the presidential system replacing the parliamentary form of government. Since provincial and national governments had been disbanded, the military regime of General Ayub Khan realized the need for some sort of people´s involvement in the affairs of the state. This resulted in the birth of the system of Basic Democracies, under which a new system of local government was introduced across the country. In the first instance, LG institutions in rural areas were set up under the Basic Democracies Order (BDO) 1959, creating union and district councils in rural areas. A year later, the Municipal Administration Ordinance (MAO) 1960, was promulgated creating municipal corporations, municipal committees and town committees in urban areas. There was minimal reservation of seats for women in this system. Forty thousand directly elected "Basic Democrats" (councilors) from East and West Pakistan each comprised this system. These councilors also formed the Electoral College for the elections of the higher tiers of governance, i.e. the Provincial Assemblies (PAs) and the National Assembly (NA) as well as the office of the President. However, the system went into disfavor and was disbanded after the collapse of President Ayub´s government in 1969. Many of its structures and features were retained in one form or another in the succeeding years.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto´s Period (1971-1977)
After the break up of Pakistan in 1971, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was elected to power. The parliamentary form of democracy was restored following general elections and the system of basic democracies was done away with. In 1973, the country had its constitution unanimously approved by the national legislature. The constitution made local government a provincial subject and, subsequently, the provincial government introduced their respective local government laws.
These were the;
1. Punjab Local Government Act, 1975
2. Baluchistan Local Government Act, 1975
3. NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 1972
4. Sindh People´s Local Government Ordinance, 1972
However, during this period, which stretched over six years, none of the provinces conducted LG elections.
Zia-ul-Haq´s Period (1977-1988)
The military government of General Zia-ul-Haq introduced a set of almost identical LG laws for the four provinces.
These were the;
1. NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 1979
2. Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 1979
3. Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 1979
4. Baluchistan Local Government Ordinance, 1980.
The first significant measure to ensure women´s representation in the local governments came in 1979, when the provincial governments were directed to reserve seats for women, minorities and peasants in local councils. The proportion was to be determined separately by each province. All the provinces, with the exception of NWFP, broadly made similar provisions. Two seats at the union council level and 10 percent seats (or a minimum of two seats) in District Councils, Town Committees, Municipal Committees, Municipal Corporations and Metropolitan Corporations were reserved for women. However, in NWFP, no reservation was made for women at the union council/town committee level. Under these laws, three successive LG elections were conducted in all four provinces in 1979, 1983 and 1987, respectively. The elections on reserved seats for women were held indirectly (by already elected, mostly male members of the councils)
Benazir Bhutto´s Two Terms (1988-1990 and 1993-1996)
No LG elections were held during the first tenure of Benazir Bhutto, who was elected as Pakistan´s first woman Prime Minister in 1988. During her second tenure, the Punjab ordinance on local government included a provision for 33 percent reservation of seats for women at all levels in Local Bodies (LBs). However, the ordinance lapsed without any elections being held under it and legislation to incorporate this provision was never enacted. In 1996, the Punjab government introduced the system of LBs based on Panchayats (village committees) in villages and Ward/Mohalla committees in cities/towns. But, no elections took place either in Punjab or in the rest of the country.
Nawaz Sharif´s Two Terms (1990-1993 and 1997-1999)
LB elections were held only in Punjab (1991) and Baluchistan (1992) during the first tenure of PM Nawaz Sharif, with the proportion of women´s representation staying the same as was determined by the 1979 ordinances. The LBs were dissolved in 1993 in Punjab and in 1996 in Baluchistan. According to official statistics, before the dissolution there were 8,295 women members (10.4 percent) out of the total membership of 79,155 nationally. The province-wise ratio was 11 percent in Punjab, 12 percent in Sindh, 1.32 percent in NWFP and 16 percent in Baluchistan. In 1997, the Punjab LGO 1996 was replaced with the 1979 Ordinance and through an amendment the system of non-elected Panchayats was introduced, which was eventually declared illegal by the Lahore High Court (LHC). In 1998, the federal government declared a 100 percent increase (or doubling of women´s reserved seats) in the LG set up. However, the number of reserved seats for women in the urban and district councils, to which elections were held in Punjab, went up from the earlier 905 to 1,368, an increase of just 463 (3.7 percent) seats. This was nowhere close to the declared 100 percent increase or doubling of seats. Meanwhile, elections to Union Councils (UCs) in Punjab, in which nearly 5,000 seats (12.5 percent) were reserved for women out of a total number of 40,000, never took place. In Baluchistan on the other hand, the provincial government raised the number of reserved seats for women from 16.4 percent to 25.8 percent (1,873 out of 7,246). This was a major stride forward in a province where it had been difficult to even formally have candidates for the lesser number. In NWFP, where there had been 68 reserved seats for women out of a total of 5,603 (1.2 percent), the number was raised to 184 out of a total of 6256 (2.9 percent). In Sindh, where there were 1,733 reserved seats for women out of a total of 13,853 (12.7 percent), the number was raised to 3,546 out of a total of 15,417 (23 percent). However, elections were not held in NWFP and Sindh.
LBs Elections 2000-2001
The elections were held under the supervision of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). These were held in five phases from December 2000 to August 2001, for the UCs on the basis of adult franchise, separate electorates and non-party candidature. The elections for Tehsil/town and district councils were held in two phases during August- September 2001, through an indirect election modality. The elections were held under separate provincial ordinances promulgated for the purpose. These were:
1. The Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001
2. The Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001
3. The NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001
4. The Baluchistan Local Government Ordinance, 2001
The 36,105 women councilors include 126 women elected on seats reserved for minorities and 16 women elected as Nazims, Naib Nazims in different councils.
Women´s Representation in Pakistan
The devolution of power plan 2000, focusing decentralization through local governments, changed the landscape for the betterment of women´s political participation and mainstreaming by reserving 33% seats for them at all three tiers of local government i.e. District, Tehsil and Union Council Level. This led to inclusion of 40,000 women involvement in political decision making at the grass root level. Further to that women were given adequate voice at national level politics by reserving 60 seats for them in National Assembly and 17 in Senate.
A landmark policy intervention in the history of Pakistan has been introduced under the new local government system, which has provision for a 33% reservation of seats for women on all local councils. These reserved seats are directly elected at village level for Union Councils and indirectly elected at District and Tehsil levels for District and Tehsil Councils. The 33% seats for women resulted in the election of approximately 40,000 women out of which 36,000 women have been elected as local councilors at the lowest tier of the Union Council alone, which is a milestone in Pakistan´s political development as for the first time such a high number of directly elected women are participating in local government. A total of 39,964 seats were reserved for women at all tiers of the local government. On an over all basis the reserved seats for women comprise of 27.7%. The reason behind this decrease is that the value of 33% was calculated on the base number in each District / Tehsil and Town/ Union Council rather than its gross number of members. At Union Council level the two seats of Nazim, Naib Nazims and minority is also excluded while extracting 33% portion of women reserved seats.
CONCLUSION
The primary challenge facing women today is to maintain and increase the momentum of their participation and empowerment. On the one hand, there is reason to believe that the process of women´s empowerment will continue to go forward: many conditions and mechanisms for women´s empowerment has been established; greater emphasis on people´s participation by policy makers and growing gender awareness are creating a favorable climate for women to bring their concerns and perspectives on to the agenda; and the great strides forward that women have made in empowering themselves are opening up more opportunities for women´s participation. All this can be seen in the increased numbers of women participations in their communities, in groups and organizations, in political and public life.
In Pakistan women are now potential leaders of their communities. The most outstanding achievement of the local government system is mainstreaming of women within the political system. Women have had their full share in its processes starting from their mobilization as candidates, canvassing electoral process, getting trained for effective participation and representing their interest in the house. The anticipation was that inclusion of a critical mass of women at grass root level in the political decision-making will lead to creation of powerful pressure group that impact at the grassroots policy making level and at political party level to be instrumental to incorporate gender concerns in manifestos, policy formulation and its implementation. Most important was that the opportunity would facilitate them in being mainstreamed from grass root to national level political decision-making and their consequent representation in political party´s hierarchy and internal decision-making.
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