Amanah Betrayed: The Missing Tier of Pakistan's Governance

Pakistan's political structure has fractured into provincial and ethnic fiefdoms, denying citizens the local governance tier essential for justice, service delivery, and national unity. Three major parties confine themselves to provincial or ethnic vote banks, blocking meaningful reform and perpetuating dynastic control. The solution lies in constitutionally protected, directly elected local governments funded through a mandatory mechanism, a reform long overdue for the Islamic Republic's founding promise of equity and adl.

How Ethnic Politics Fractured Pakistan's Governance

Pakistan was born from the fire of faith and the yearning for justice. Allama Iqbal, may his soul rest in peace, dreamed of a state where the Muslim ummah could flourish under the banner of adl and shura. Quaid-e-Azam envisioned a nation where governance served the people, not dynasties. Yet today, that sacred promise lies broken. Our political structure has splintered into ethnic enclaves and provincial fiefdoms, each serving its own narrow interest while the people of Pakistan suffer.

The three largest parties in Pakistan each govern a province. For two, their entire support comes from a part of that province. For the third, its most ardent support comes from the province it governs. Except for the current main opposition party, which remains somewhat federal, our parties are confined to provinces or even to ethnic groups within them. This is not governance. This is the politics of division, a betrayal of the unity Iqbal proclaimed when he warned against the idols of nationalism and tribe.

Over the past few decades, voting preferences in Hazara have differed from those elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Balochistan, Baloch and Pashtuns follow dissimilar political paths. In Sindh, an urban-rural divide fractures the province. In Punjab, western and southern areas vote differently from the central heartland. Given the influence of wealth and power, politics should be a debate between the haves and the have-nots. Instead, we indulge in nationalist and ethnic politics, a poison that weakens the very fabric of our republic.

Why Provincial Parties Hoard Power

Political scientist William Riker described this as the tendency towards building a minimum winning coalition. The smallest possible coalition controls all provincial resources, enriching its members while excluding outsiders. In Islamic terms, this is the antithesis of amanah, the sacred trust of governance. Those who hold public office are shepherds accountable for their flock, not lords who feast while the flock starves.

When parties confine themselves to an area or ethnicity, they focus exclusively on their vote bank. Meaningful national reforms that would uplift all Pakistanis never take place. The people of Lodhran wait in vain while Lahore prospers. The children of Taunsa suffer while the powerful count their gains.

Compounding this tendency is the reality that our parties are family-based or personality-based. They hoard power within dynasties, treating public office as inherited wealth rather than a trust from the people. Since their political power is provincial, they concentrate authority in provincial capitals and refuse to devolve it to local levels.

These parties treat provincial autonomy as sacrosanct but refuse to create autonomous local governments. They view local government not as the essential tier for achieving true federalism but as a threat to be avoided at all costs. They champion the NFC Award while refusing to devolve resources to the local level. Today, not a single province has a Provincial Finance Commission award for the equitable funding of local governments.

The Human Cost of Missing Local Governance

Over the last two decades, dismantling the third tier of government has rendered our governance ineffective and inequitable. This is the tier that provides civic services, the tier citizens interact with daily. Its absence is not merely an administrative failure; it is a moral failure, a denial of the haqooq that every Pakistani deserves as a citizen of this Islamic Republic.

In its 2025/26 Annual Development Plan, Punjab allocated Rs13,240 per citizen for Lahore, already its richest city, but only Rs460 per citizen of Lodhran, one of its poorest areas. About 30% of Punjab's population, living mostly in southern and western parts, received only 8% of ADP spending. This neglect is perhaps why over 300 children were infected with HIV in a government hospital in Taunsa. When governance abandons the poor, disease and despair follow.

In Sindh, the government's spending priorities remain a mystery after 17 years of the current administration. Urban dwellers believe money flows to rural areas, while rural areas remain devastatingly poor, waiting for a turn that never comes. The entire province, but especially Karachi, suffers from active negligence. This is not governance. This is a crime against the people.

The story repeats across all four provinces: underdevelopment, misallocation of resources, neglect of education and health, corruption in zoning, building control, police, and contracts. The degrees vary, but the pattern holds. Our smaller provinces also have citizens who feel alienated from the state. This alienation can only be countered with greater local empowerment.

What Reforms Can Restore Local Government in Pakistan?

This is why local government reforms are long past due. Most political parties resist releasing power from family hands. Yet it is heartening that local government empowerment is finally on the agenda and that parties may be compelled toward a constitutionally funded and legally protected local government system.

As we provide constitutional protection to local governments, we must rectify mistakes made during the commendable steps of the Musharraf era toward autonomous local government. We need not just directly elected union council chairmen but also directly elected tehsil and district nazims and division mayors. This opens political space. New people can rise and run directly for nazim or mayor without needing a political party's backing.

Indirect elections of mayors, where candidates need majority support from fellow council members, force everyone into existing parties and perpetuate family dominance. This is why no new leadership has emerged in Sindh since 1970 and, with one exception, in Punjab since 1985. That one exception, sustained by powerful quarters over a decade, proves the rule: how closed our politics remain due to indirect elections. We must open politics so that new people, armed with vision, popularity, competence, and integrity, can break into leadership positions.

Another mistake during General Musharraf's time, which became deliberate policy in the 18th Amendment, was the absence of a guaranteed mechanism to fund local government. The same formula that provides money to provinces through the NFC should also fund local governments. Money should flow directly from the federation or be mandatory for provinces. Local governments, controlling police, health, education, roads, water, and more, should receive around 80% of the provincial share.

There is an inherent conflict between MPAs and local councillors. To mitigate this, provincial assemblies should be composed of directly elected district nazims, just as metropolitan councils are composed of directly elected union council chairmen. Nazims would work in their districts but spend a few days a year in provincial headquarters to pass budgets and legislation. Their salaries notwithstanding, provincial legislators do not truly work full-time.

What Are the Three Benefits of Empowered Local Government?

Empowered local governments offer three main advantages for the Islamic Republic.

First, nationalist and ethnic politics will wane. When people see governance delivering justice at their doorstep, the poison of ethnic division loses its potency. Pakistan was not created for Baloch, Pashtun, Sindhi, or Punjabi alone. It was created for Muslims, a brotherhood that transcends tribe and tongue.

Second, we will finally provide quality education, health, and other services to our people. Directly elected nazims will be accountable to citizens and deliver services their constituents demand. No longer will Lodhran beg while Lahore feasts.

Third, we will induct new blood into the system. There is no reason high politics in Pakistan should be confined to two and a half families. The shaheen of Iqbal's vision does not build dynasties; it soars on the strength of its own wings.

Why does Pakistan need local government reform?

Pakistan needs local government reform because the current provincial governance model concentrates power in dynastic parties that serve ethnic vote banks rather than all citizens. Without local government, service delivery fails, resources are misallocated, and ethnic politics dominates national discourse.

How does ethnic politics harm Pakistan's governance?

Ethnic politics confines parties to provincial or sub-provincial vote banks, preventing national reforms and equitable resource distribution. It fractures national unity, alienates citizens in smaller provinces, and perpetuates dynastic control by families who exploit ethnic loyalties to maintain power.

What funding mechanism should local governments have?

Local governments should receive funding through a mechanism similar to the NFC Award, either directly from the federation or mandatorily from provinces. They should control approximately 80% of the provincial share since they manage police, health, education, roads, and water services.

The writer is a former finance minister and secretary of Awaam Pakistan.