Development Advocate Pakistan: Volume 2, Issue 1

Development Advocate Pakistan: Volume 2, Issue 1

April 14, 2015

These days, Pakistan has a reason to celebrate. It is the fifth anniversary of its 18th constitutional amendment. But is it just an amendment or a constitutional revolution? Only two years after the end of military rule the country deconstructed its state order and reinvented provincial autonomy under a federal roof. With the 18th amendment, Pakistan has given itself in April 2010, a contemporary, democratic and federal state order, which allows the country to build decentralized and local government structures. Now, five years after the amendment, it is possible to hold democratic elections at the federal, provincial and local levels and provides an unprecedentedopportunity for Pakistan toconsolidate its democracy after the centrist regime.

But signicant federal institutions and implementation mechanisms in charge of the devolution at all levels of government are still little developed or even non-existent. Also, the highly desired interprovincial coordination remains in its infancy and is not supported by any effective structure. Risks of failure of a timely, coordinated and fully implemented 18th constitutional amendment remain in terms of party, societal and security politics. This could lead to a democratic, institutional and economic backlash in Pakistan and give a strong impetus to the dissidencemovements and these again could provoke a military response.

Since the adoption of the 18th amendment, UNDP strives to strengthen participatory federalism and decentralization at all three government levels in parallel. UNDP and its partners continue in focusing their capacity building efforts on the key institutions in charge of the devolution process in order to strengthen effective service delivery inamannerthat is transparentandaccountable to the people at the local level.

Regions and Countries