The non-party based local government elections at union council level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reaffirmed the relevance of the Biradari system, as people voted for relatives/neighbours irrespective of their party affiliation. An anecdotal survey conducted by Business Recorder revealed that with the introduction of a new tier - village and neighbourhood councils - in the local government system, the local government leadership was brought to the street level from union councils.
People from diverse background maintained that they voted for those who they knew personally - relatives, friends or neighbours irrespective of their party affiliations. Party affiliation becomes important when it comes to Tehsil and district level, as these people elect Tehsil and district Nazims. In the village councils, the candidate who bags majority votes automatically becomes chairman of the village council.
Under the new local government system, union councils have been declared wards and each ward has been divided in two or three village and neighbourhood councils. Shah Farman, an elder of the area at Chota Lahore in Swabi district said politicians seldom visit the village after an election but with the introduction of the new LG system a village representative will help in resolving the problems at their doorstep.
"We see the politicians only when it's time for elections...the LG system will ensure that the person we've elected will be approachable at least. The MNAs and the MPAs don't give priority to resolve our issues," he added. As many as 10 to 15 members are elected in each village and neighbourhood council, including 5 to 10 on general seats, two women and a peasant, minority and youth seat. The number of general seats depends on the size of the population in their respective village and neighbourhood councils.
Azizullah Khan of Mardan said that the village council system could also be helpful in resolving minor disputes among people without involving the police or going to the court. He said the elected members had already taken the initiative and if this continued, it will help in reducing the burden on police and the courts.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had over 10 million registered voters in which 41,762 people were elected in the May 30 LG elections, while 84,420 candidates took part in the elections. However, Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad, former secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) maintained that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 is the brainchild of foreign-funded non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
He said that the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an NGO that provides technical assistance to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to strengthen the electoral system through "Pakistan Election Support Program", has proved to be a complete farce. He further said that IFES activities under the pretext of providing training to strengthen the electoral system, has made the role of ECP controversial, adding that the flawed training programmes arranged by the said NGO was the main reason 2013 general elections became controversial.
He further stated that the NGO had no idea of the country's electoral system, and it brought the electoral model of different countries such as Ukraine, etc into Pakistan's electoral system which could not possibly suit us given our political dynamics. When contacted, Shabir Ahmed, deputy country director of IFES, out-rightly rejected the allegations leveled by Dilshad, saying the NGO has been working in Pakistan when Dilshad was secretary ECP.
"We've worked with Mr Dilshad for five years when he was secretary ECP. If this had been the case, he should have taken action. Our sole purpose is to help the ECP in capacity building, technical assistance and training," he added. The legislation for the local government elections in all the four provinces was done by the provincial governments, he said, adding the NGOs whether national or international had no role in the legislation process at all. "I would like to reiterate that our job is to give technical assistance to ECP and we're doing that according to the constitution of Pakistan with the help of the commission in order to strengthen the electoral system of the country," he added.
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