The Punjab Assembly’s recent resolution to amend Article 140-A offers Pakistan a rare constitutional opening to rebuild democracy from the ground up.
The amendment, if expanded to include marginalised sections especially women, religious and ethnic minorities as well as youth to establish a common framework across provinces, could transform how the state connects with its citizens.
Pakistan’s crisis of governance has never stemmed from a lack of laws; it stems from a lack of implementation on the laws. For nearly eight decades, the state has governed from above, often fearing to empower its citizens at the grassroots. Every so-called reform in local government has promised devolution, only to end in dissolution. The result is a cycle of creation and collapse that has denied Pakistanis the one form of governance that directly touches their lives.
When the 18th Amendment introduced Article 140-A in 2010, it was hailed as a turning point. The new clause made it mandatory for provinces to “establish local governments and devolve political, administrative and financial authority”. It was supposed to cement the third tier of governance. Yet fifteen years later, local government remains the weakest link in Pakistan’s democratic chain. The article itself is skeletal – 41 words that say little about tenure, autonomy or continuity. It leaves everything to provincial law, and therefore to political whim.
Each province has struggled to sustain continuity in local governance. In Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan alike, local elections have remained uneven and frequently disrupted. Poll cycles have been delayed, legal frameworks repeatedly amended and administrative changes introduced midstream. Even where councils are functioning, elected representatives face persistent issues with limited fiscal space, uncertain tenure and overlapping mandates that dilute their authority. The pattern is uniform: local democracy exists but is rarely uninterrupted.
That is why the Punjab Assembly’s move this October is so significant. In a rare moment of unanimity, the assembly adopted a resolution urging the federal government to amend Article 140-A and create a separate constitutional chapter for local governments. The proposal, forwarded to the National Assembly and Senate, calls for guaranteed autonomy, fixed tenure, and mandatory elections within 90-120 days after dissolution. It also seeks to prevent premature suspension of local bodies and to anchor their financial and administrative independence.
In substance, this would elevate local governments from creatures of provincial law to constitutionally protected institutions. It would ensure that devolution is no longer optional but obligatory. At the federal level, these developments converge with discussions on the 28th Amendment, currently under consideration, which aims to strengthen local governance through clearer constitutional protections, harmonisation of frameworks across provinces, and enforcement of continuity. If synchronised effectively, this amendment could mark the first coordinated federal-provincial step towards making devolution a constitutional right rather than a political preference.
For Pakistan, local government failure is not new. Since independence, every political and military regime has tried to shape the system to its own design. Ayub Khan’s Basic Democracies, Ziaul Haq’s non-party councils, Musharraf’s devolution plan, and the post-2010 provincial frameworks have all claimed to empower citizens but were driven by centralized logic. Each time, the rhetoric of participation masked the reality of control.
Even today, the structure of local government varies drastically from province to province. A Union Council in Punjab functions differently from a Town Committee in Sindh or a Village Council in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These differences may seem administrative, but they weaken the federation. Without a shared framework or nomenclature, data cannot be compared, responsibilities blur and accountability becomes localized in name but not in effect.
That is why the amendment process must look beyond mere continuity and include forward-looking features chief among them, a minimum common nomenclature for local governments across the country. Such uniformity would not erase provincial autonomy; it would strengthen coherence. When a Union Council means the same thing in Lahore, Larkana and Lower Dir, citizens will finally have a common understanding of representation. It will also enable the Election Commission and other federal bodies to coordinate elections, fiscal planning, and performance monitoring under a shared standard.
Another essential reform is the inclusion of a 33 per cent quota for women at all tiers of local government. Pakistan’s experience demonstrates that when women are represented in councils, policy priorities shift toward education, health, sanitation, and community welfare. Yet their participation remains vulnerable to provincial discretion. A constitutional quota would give permanence to women’s voices in decision-making and align Pakistan with its commitments under CEDAW and the Commonwealth Charter, which recognises gender equality as an essential element of democratic governance. It would turn representation from a privilege into a right.
If Article 140-A is to be rewritten, it must rest on five guiding principles: continuity of tenure local governments must not be dissolved arbitrarily, and any suspension should require judicial oversight; timely elections polls must be held within a fixed window after expiry or dissolution; fiscal autonomy provincial finance commissions should be mandatory and formula-based, ensuring predictable funding; structural uniformity a common nomenclature and minimum framework across provinces, with flexibility for local adaptation; and gender inclusion women’s representation must be constitutionally secured, not subject to legislative goodwill.
Such an amendment would not simply restore local governments; it would redefine Pakistan’s federal compact. It would transform Article 140-A from a token statement into a living guarantee of democratic participation.
At its heart, this is about more than administrative reform. It is about reaffirming a democratic philosophy: that governance derives its strength from proximity, not distance. The Commonwealth Charter captures this truth succinctly when it affirms that “representative local governments and other forms of local governance are essential elements in the exercise of democratic governance”. If Pakistan truly seeks inclusive, accountable development, it must begin where governance meets daily life in the streets, villages, and neighbourhoods where citizens experience the state.
For too long, Pakistan has spoken the language of devolution while practising centralisation. The result is visible in weak service delivery, fragile legitimacy and citizens who view government as something external. The proposed amendment to Article 140-A offers a rare opportunity to change that dynamic. By embedding continuity, coherence and inclusion into the constitution, Pakistan can finally build a democracy that begins where people live, not merely where power resides.
By constitutionalising local governments, Pakistan can replace political uncertainty with democratic continuity. That transformation – steady, inclusive and locally anchored – is the reform our federation has long awaited.
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