PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Wednesday released a detailed ‘white paper’ marking 16 years of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, presenting a critical assessment of federal and provincial governance and arguing that the intended benefits of reforms have yet not reached common man.
Titled ‘The 18th Amendment at 16: Devolution, Divergenceand the Crisis of Grassroots Democracy,’ the document describes the amendment as a historic milestone in Pakistan’s federal evolution, achieved through broad political consensus in 2010.
According to the white paper, the 18th Constitutional Amendment strengthened the federation by abolishing the Concurrent Legislative List and transferring major administrative and legislative responsibilities to the provinces. However, it argued that despite the passage of sixteen years, the practical benefits of devolution remain largely unrealised.
The ANP reiterated that it had consistently advocated provincial autonomy and a more balanced federal structure. It said although the constitu-tional framework created opportunities for meaningful devolution, implementation had been weakened by federal overreach and administrative centralisation at the provincial level.
At the federal level, the party alleged that successive governments attempted to recentralise authority by reviving abolished ministries under different administrative arrangements, which it said ran contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.
The report also criticised the continued exclusion of sectors such as real estate and agriculture from the tax net, arguing that this had increased pressure on public finances.
It further claimed that compliance with International Monetary Fund (IMF) condi-tions through higher fiscal surplus targets for provinces had constrained development spending and weakened public welfare initiatives.
The white paper maintained that financial resources received by the province under the National Finance Commission Award remained concentrated in provincial capitals, with limited transfer of powers and resources to district and local governments.
Referring to Article 140-A of the Constitution, it said that local governments had not been empowered in line with constitutional requirements and, in several cases, had been replaced by bureaucratic structures instead of elected localrepresentation.
The ANP also opposed any move to reduce the provincialshare under the NFC Award or reverse powers devolved under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, saying such measures would undermine constitutional autonomy.
The party called for constitutional reforms to strengthen Article 140-A, including fixed tenure for local governments, timely local body elections and constitutionally protected fiscal autonomy for districts and villages.
The white paper declared that while the 18th Constitutional Amendment helped preserve political consensus in 2010, Pakistan’s longterm stability depended on strengthening local governance and devolving political, administrative and financial authority to the grassroots level.