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Features on Federalism Features on Federalism Features on Federalism Features on Federalism Editorial Board Zafarullah Khan, Adnan Rehmat, Shiza Malik First edition: December 2013 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the UNDP and CCE-Pakistan. Centre for Civic Education Pakistan (CCE) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will welcome use, reproduction and dissemination of the contents of this publication for training, educational and advocacy purposes with proper acknowledgment. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. We will appreciate provision of accurate information to improve the next edition. This publication has been carried under UNDP's project, “Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization.” Centre for Civic Education Pakistan, as part of the project is working towards generating knowledge products and to arrange learning events about Pakistani federalism through dialogues, research and training. Contact information Strengthening Participatory Centre for Civic Education Pakistan Federalism and Decentralization G.P.O Box: 1123, Islamabad Democratic Governance Unit, UNDP – Pakistan. Web: www.civiceducation.org 6th Floor, Serena Business Complex Islamabad Web: http//www.undp.org.pk Title: Mural of Unity by students of National College of Arts, Rawalpindi Campus at a UNDP Conference on "Participatory Federalism and Decentralization: from Framework to Designed By Functionality", September 2013 S. Waqas Kazmi Guest Editorial Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization (SPFD) is a multi-year, multi-tier and multi-stakeholder project launched by UNDP, Pakistan against the backdrop of the 18th Constitutional Amendment (2010). The SPFD views the 18th Amendment through a governance, development and public policy lens and identifies strategic areas of intervention to support the process of transition management at federal, provincial and local levels. The core objective of the Project is to develop policy support and institutional mechanisms strengthening effective service delivery at the grassroots level in a manner that is transparent and accountable to the people at large. SPFD Project collaborated with the Centre for Civic Education to produce features on different aspects of 18th Amendment, federalism, local governments, right to Information, educational reforms, and provincial autonomy. The objective of this modest effort is to create a body of knowledge on contemporary issues informing the debates on federalism and decentralization in Pakistan. We have been privileged that leading subject experts including Dr Muhammad Waseem, Dr. Haider Nizamani, Dr. Pervez Tahir, Naseer Memon, Salman Abid, Zahid Abdullah, Jami Chandio, Shahzad Zulfiqar, Syed Ali Shah, Azam Khan, Dr Khadim Hussain and Mohsin Aziz have authored pieces for Citizens Wire featuring different aspects of federalism in Pakistan. We are also honored to have renowned and politically conscientious artist Sabir Nazar for capturing the themes of federalism and decentralization through his imaginative drawing and cartooning. SPFD plans to continue supporting different avenues of development of knowledge products that raise awareness amongst different stakeholders about issues regarding 18th Amendment, federalism and local government in Pakistan. It is hoped that you will find this compendium of articles useful and we hope it leads to a better understanding of issues surrounding the transition management and implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment. Amjad Bhatti National Technical Advisor SPFD, UNDP-Pakistan 01 www.citizenswire.com Editorial It gives us great pleasure to present this collection of selected articles from our information for democracy initiative Citizen's Wire (www.citizenswire.com). While the emergence of the internet has led to changing media consumption habits around the world, with more and more people receiving their dose of news and articles online, we at the Centre for Civic Education continue to see the value of content in its printed form. It is our hope that this print version of the Citizen's Wire will be of convenience to those readers who do not have access to the internet. Further, this version has been put together as an archival collection of articles published during 2013 and can serve to encourage our readers as well as our contributors. The year 2013 was as eventful and tumultuous as any year in a vibrant developing democracy, such as ours, can be. However, for this version of the Citizen's Wire care was taken to choose articles centered around themes rather than events as episodic pieces are of transient relevance while the themes around which articles were commissioned are likely to remain critically important to Pakistan. These themes include Federalism, Right to Information, Local Government and Education. While doing so proved to be a formidable challenge, efforts were also made to put together a picture representative of our Federation, including perspectives from all four Provinces, as well as the Capital. We also included cartoons from Sabir Nazar and a Civic Thought for each month. It was hoped that through these articles, healthy debate would be generated around the topics of Federalism and Local Government, which would be helpful in the achievement of the goals set out by the project "Strengthening Participatory Federalism and Decentralization" carried out by the Centre for Civic Education with support from the United Nations Development Fund. We extend our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for our readers and contributors who have made this endeavour, a success. We hope that this association will continue in the future and perhaps through our humble efforts, together we can make a contribution albeit small, towards the progress of our nascent democracy. Shiza Malik Progamme Officer CCE Pakistan 02 www.citizenswire.com Constitution As A User-Manual Of Statecraft Dr. Haider Nizamani Why should there be concern for constitution in a country where military regimes have suspended, tampered with, and, even drafted constitutions? Modern day constitutions are user-manuals for states. User manuals are enclosed with electronic and other mechanical products for good reasons - they are to become the document to be consulted from the setting up of the product to troubleshooting. States are far more complex entities than an automobile or a mobile phone. Leadership that puts effort into the drafting a robust user-manual contributes in providing much needed stability to the polity. Another enduring quality of a good constitution is its ability to troubleshoot when the managers of the state run into problems. Above all, a constitution would be no more than a piece of paper if the very people who are supposed to uphold it, flout it. Unlike Pakistan, leadership in neighboring India following independence, for the most part, created and abided by its constitution whereas in Pakistan this path was avoided. These varying choices had far-reaching consequences for the two countries. Pakistan and India gained independence in 1947 and the Modern day delegates selected from the pool of those elected in 1945 provincial elections formed the Constituent Assembly for constitutions are United India in 1946. The 1935 Government of India Act user-manuals served as a user-manual for the new states at their birth in August 1947. The Indian leadership wasted no time and for states. started to work in earnest to frame a constitution. It was by no means an easy task but the leadership did not use difficulties as an excuse to put constitution making on hold. Towering figures like Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, brilliant legal minds like Bhim Rao Ambedkar, a Dalit who was vocal opponent of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, among others put in countless hours over the next two years and by November 1949 were able to submit to the Constituent Assembly the draft constitution. The Constituent Assembly in India passed the new constitution for the country on January 26, 1950. India's first general elections based on universal adult franchise were held a year later under the new constitution. With 96 amendments down the road, the Indian Constitution remains an agreed-upon user-manual for a country with a population of over one billion citizens. Ramchandra Guha, popular historian and commentator, is of the view that thanks to the genius and hard-work of India's early leaders even leaders of mediocre caliber are able to run the republic without fear of being taken over by unelected institutions. Leaders who were at the helm of affairs in Pakistan chose to avoid the adoption of the constitution in true letter and spirit. The Government of India Act of 1935 in essence remained the user manual for the new republic. Instead of legislative complexity and compromises, Pakistani leaders chose executive fiat to govern the heterogeneous society. The political leadership in Karachi, Pakistan's first capital, increasingly leaned upon civil and military bureaucracies to impose their writ and stay in power. This was an easy and preferred arrangement for Pakistan's unelectable and unimaginative 03 www.citizenswire.com A constitution leadership running the show at the center. The first would be no more constitution of Pakistan promulgated in 1956 had a short lifespan. than a piece of paper if the very The armed forces staged its first coup in 1958 and suspended the constitution. The 1956 constitution came people who are at the heels of the One Unit policy through which four supposed to provinces in
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