KARACHI: Federal Minister for National Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal stated on Tuesday that his party is not against the 18th Amendment, but wants it implemented in letter and spirit. He remarked that power in Pakistan remains concentrated in the hands of just five people: the four chief ministers and the prime minister, ARY News reported.
Elaborating on his stance, the Minister emphasized that they do not oppose provincial autonomy itself, but rather its incomplete execution. He noted that whenever the empowerment of local bodies is brought up, certain individuals tend to get annoyed.
He maintained that the true purpose of the 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy was to decentralize authority, making every tier of the province autonomous. Instead, he argued, all governance and administrative powers have been bottlenecked at the top level between the Prime Minister and the four Chief Ministers.
Kamal further stated that democracy can only be truly effective when it is active right under the citizens’ noses, calling the local government system the first ladder of democracy. He lamented that, despite this, local government elections are withheld for years.
Expressing surprise that a proper local governance setup is still missing despite having an elected political government in power, Kamal warned that the country’s governance framework cannot function sustainably under the current centralized approach.