Seminar: People’s participation in local governance stressed
September 24, 2013-ISLAMABAD: With the return of civilian rule, challenges for democratic forces to realise the importance of local governments continue to instigate public debate.
At a seminar, “Citizens’ Participation in Local Governance,” civil society representatives discussed the implications of the 18th Amendment on governance and decentralisation of democracy. They suggested the government indicate a time frame for local bodies elections.
Author of a report, “Bridging Development Deficits through Democratic Decentralisation-post 18th Amendment framework for Local Governance in Pakistan,” Amjad Bhatti of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) explained that local governance has only been seen under military regimes whose conflict with civilian governments have left us with an inadequate framework. Resultantly, a trickle-down approach has not made this process a success.