THE MQM-P’s hope that the coalition led by the PML-N will soon amend the Constitution to incorporate its recommendations for empowering local governments is admirable. On Monday, party leader Mustafa Kamal claimed that its proposal to change the constitutional provisions on LGs would now be advanced as the 28th amendment. Hours later, Rana Sanaullah, adviser to the prime minister on political affairs, said the 28th amendment, dealing with public issues such as local bodies, population, the National Finance Commission and health-related issues, could be introduced if there is “political consensus”. “There is a need to review how we can better serve the people according to the present needs of the provinces and the centre,” he said. The same day, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon indicated that his party, which has ruled the province since 2008, did not intend to support the proposed changes in Article 140-A, which calls for the establishment of local bodies as the third tier of governance by the provinces but is silent on the powers for locally elected representatives.

Political rhetoric on the importance of LGs aside, the reality is that the two major coalition partners — the PML-N and PPP — are least interested in the financial, administrative and political empowerment of the third tier of government. To its credit, the MQM-P has been trying to get the Constitution amended for this purpose for quite some time. However, its coalition partners sidestepped the initiative at the time of the introduction of both the 26th and 27th Amendments, at each occasion promising to include the recommendations in the next round. If this doesn’t indicate the intent of the two major parties ruling Punjab and Sindh, what does? Delaying LG reform is not simply procrastination on their part; it is more of a refusal to accommodate the thought. Parties that have bigger stakes than the MQM-P in the status quo, as far as the current structure of governance goes, are not in favour of strengthening local democracy. It would force them to decentralise many of their powers, which would sound the death knell for their politics of patronage that has helped their political dynasties survive and retain control of their parties. If its coalition partners did not accommodate its proposals to amend the constitutional provisions on LGs in the last two legislations, they are unlikely to do so in the future.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2025