The local government system in Pakistan country profile

Pakistan
Key Facts
POPULATION (estimate 2014)1: 188,020,000
AREA2: 796,095 sq km
CAPITAL: Islamabad
CURRENCY: Pakistani rupee (PKR)
HEAD OF STATE: President Mamnoon Hussain
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
FORM OF GOVERNMENT: parliamentary republic
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM: bicameral
STATE STRUCTURE: federal
LANGUAGES: Urdu and English (official);
Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi (recognised)
NATIONAL ELECTIONS:
last: 11 May 2013 turnout: 55% next: May 2018
LOCAL ELECTIONS:
last: varies by province (see Table 1c below)
WOMEN COUNCILLORS: 33% (Balochistan 2014)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE as percentage
of total government expenditure 2013/143: na

SUMMARY
Pakistan is a federal republic with three tiers of
government: central, provincial and local. Local
government is protected by the constitution in
Articles 32 and 140-A, and each province also
has its own local government-enabling legislation
and ministries responsible for implementation.
District councils and Metropolitan corporations
are respectively the highest rural and urban
tiers of local government in the provinces.
Both urban and rural local government have
two or three tiers in all provinces except
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where councils are not
identified as either urban or rural. There are
129 district councils across the five provinces,
619 urban councils made up of one city district,
two metropolitan corporations, 13 municipal
corporations, 96 municipal committees, 148
town councils, 360 urban union committees,
and 1,925 rural councils. Additionally there
are 3,408 neighbourhood, ‘tehsil’ and village
councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Ability to raise
local revenue varies according to provincial
legislation.
District councils and Metropolitan Corporations
have significant responsibilities, often jointly with
either higher provincial government – eg for policing
(union guards), education, healthcare, roads and local
economic development – or with lower levels of local
government – eg for water and sanitation, museums
and libraries and environmental protection.
1. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
Pakistan is a federal republic with a bicameral
elected parliament comprising two houses known
as the Senate and the National Assembly. The head
of state is the president, who is indirectly elected
by an electoral college made up of the Senate, the
National Assembly and Pakistan’s four provincial
assemblies. The 104 members of the Senate are
either indirectly elected by the provincial assemblies
or directly elected from two of the territories. The
Senate is made up as follows: 14 open seats, four
women’s seats, four seats for non-Muslims and
four technocrat seats indirectly elected by each
of the provincial assemblies (ie 88 seats in total);
eight seats directly elected from the federally
administered tribal areas; and four directly elected
from the federal capital, to include one woman and
one technocrat.
Of the 342 seats in the National Assembly,
272 are filled by direct elections from single-
member constituencies by universal adult
suffrage through a single transferable vote;
60 are reserved for women and allocated
proportionally to those parties which secure
more than 5% of the vote in the national
election; and ten are reserved for religious
minorities. The prime minister is usually the
leader of the largest party in the national
assembly.
Pakistan is made up of four provinces and
four federal territories. As of 2015, Gilgit-
Baltistan has been a de facto province. The four
provincial assemblies are directly elected with
a membership of 371 in Punjab, 164 in Sindh,
124 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-
west Province) and 51 in Balochistan. In each
assembly just under 20% of seats are reserved
for women and 2-5% for religious minorities.

Table 1a. Main local government legislation by province/territory

Province/territory Main local government legislation Online link to legislation
Balochistan Balochistan Local Government Act 2010 http://balochistan.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=332&Itemid=677

KPK Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013 www.khyberpakhtunkhwa.gov.pk/cms/downloads/kp.gov.pk-downlaods-aeae5e9b4d9c0c6a0c4dbf8263ec7deb.pdf

Punjab Punjab Local Government Act 2013 http://punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/2542.html
Sindh Sindh Local Government Act 2013 www.sindh.gov.pk/dpt/Local%20Government/THE DRAFT SINDH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2013.pdf
Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan Local Government Act 2014 http://gbpolicyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Gilgit-Baltistan-Local-Government-Bill-20141.pdf
Cantonments
Cantonments Cantonment Laws (Amendment) Act 2013 www.na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1386310726_213.pdf
2015 www.na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1386310726_213.pdf
Cantonment Local Government (Elections) Rules 2015

Islamabad CT Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2013 www.na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/1386597046_326.pdf

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 country profile Pakistan

Table 1b. Pakistan local government elections

Province/territory Last election Voting system used Turnout (%) Women councillors (%) Next election
Balochistan Dec 2013 First-past-the-post 2005 (31.1) 2,335/7,169 (33%) Dec 2017
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa May 2015 First-past-the-post 2005 (41.2) - tbc
Punjab Oct 2015 First-past-the-post 2005 (53.6) - tbc
Sindh Oct 2015 First-past-the-post 2005 (37.7) - tbc
Islamabad Capital Territory Sept 2015 - - - tbc
FATA na - - - -
Gilgit-Baltistan 2009 - - - tbc
Cantonments April 2015 - - (2/ 199) 1% April 2020
FATA = Federally Administered Tribal Areas

2. LEGAL BASIS FOR
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
2.1 Constitutional provisions
Local government is protected by the constitution
in Articles 32 and 140-A:
• Article 32 states: ‘Promotion of local
government institutions. The state shall
encourage local government institutions
composed of elected representatives of the
areas concerned and in such institutions
special representation will be given to
peasants, workers and women.’
• Article 140-A states: ‘Each province shall,
by law, establish a local government system
and devolve political, administrative and
financial responsibility and authority to
the elected representatives of the local
governments.’
2.2 Main legislative texts
Local government is empowered by provincial
legislation (see table 1a). There is no local
government system as such in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) (but see section
2.3). level. Each department is headed by a provincial
2.3 Proposed legislative changes
A draft FATA Local Government Regulation 2012
has been prepared to establish local government
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas,
but this law has not yet been approved by the
president. In the meantime FATA tribal leaders
have also demanded a local government system
and have filed a petition in the Supreme Court of
Pakistan to that effect.
3. STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
3.1 Local government within the state
Where there have not been local government
elections, the administration of each district is
assigned to an appointed district administrator.
With elected councils, the local government
system is based on the federated structures
of a three-tier system of district (zila), tehsil
and union councils. Each level of local
government has defined functions and service
responsibilities. There is a focus on agriculture,
community development, education and health
at district level; on municipal infrastructure
services at tehsil level; and on community-based
services at union level. The levels of government
are integrated through a bottom-up planning
system, the council electoral arrangements,
and specific procedures for monitoring service
delivery.
3.2 Ministerial oversight
Local governments are created by the provinces
and therefore ministerial oversight rests with
local government departments at provincial
minister of local government. At the federal level,
the Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination
provides a coordination role.
3.3 Council types
District councils and metropolitan corporations
are the highest tier of local government in the
five provinces, whilst both urban and rural
local government have two or three tiers in all
provinces except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where
councils are not identified as either urban or
rural (see Table 1c).
3.3.1 District councils: As of April 2015,
there are 129 district councils across the five
provinces. No further information was available
for this edition.
3.3.2 Urban councils: There are a total of 619
urban councils made up of one city district,
two metropolitan corporations, 13 municipal
corporations, 96 municipal committees, 148
town councils and 360 urban union committees.
No further information was available for this
edition.
3.3.3 Rural councils: There are 1,925 rural
councils, in addition to 3,408 neighbourhood,
tehsil and village councils in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. No further information was
available for this edition.
4. ELECTIONS
4.1 Recent local elections
Elections have been held in Balochistan and KPK
provinces and in Cantonment areas (throughout
the country), while in Punjab and Sindh
provinces, elections have been announced to be
held in October 2015 in phases.
4.2 Voting system
No information was available for this edition.
4.3 Elected representatives
No information was available for this edition.

Table 1c. Distribution of councils and population (2008 Census)

Urban
Urban Rural Urban and Rural
rural KPK Urban and rural KPK
Region District
Districts
City City Metroplitan Municipal Town Municipal
Union
Town Total Population
District %Union
rural Total Neighbo- Tehsil Village Total Population
Metropolitan Municipal Municipal
councils districts corporations
councils corporations committees council committees
corporations corporations committees Council Urban2008 councils
Census councils
2015 est 2008 urhoods councils councils rural census 1998

Balochistan 32 - 1 4 53 - - 58 32 635 667 - - - 757 6,565,885

KPK1 26 1 - - - 4 - 4 - - - 504 69 2,835 3,439 17,743,645
Punjab 36 - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - 36 73,621,290
Sindh2 29 - 1 9 37 144 360 551 24 1,126 1,150 - - - 1,730 30,439,893
FATA3 - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - 0 3,176,331
Gilgit-Baltistan 6 - - - 6 - - 6 6 102 108 - - - 120 -
Cantonments4 - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - 0 -
Islamabad CT - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - 0 805,235
TOTAL 129 1 2 13 96 148 360 619 62 1,863 1,925 504 69 2,835 6,082 132,352,279

Notes: 1There is also no urban/rural divide in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) there are 26 districts but elections in May 2015 were held in only 24 districts and the data in this table reflects 24 districts only.
2
Sindh: Delimitation in progress, hence data provided here is an estimate 3FATA = Federally Administered Tribal Areas. 4Cantonments: countrywide: boards: 43, wards/seats: 199

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 Pakistan country profile

Table 2. Aggregate income and expenditure for local government 2013/14 10. DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE
Income PKR Expenditure PKR DELIVERY RESPONSIBILITY
Centre–local transfers Administration Although there are variations province by province,
restricted na staff na districts normally have responsibility for delivering
unrestricted na property na elementary and secondary education, literacy,
other na primary and secondary health and dispensaries,
Locally raised revenue Services agriculture and intra-district roads. Tehsils have
responsibilities including local roads and streets;
taxes na water na
street services (eg lighting, water supply systems,
licences na road maintenance na
sewers and sanitation); slaughterhouses; and
others na fairs, markets and cultural events. Metropolitan
TOTAL INCOME na TOTAL EXPENDITURE na corporations (previously city districts) provide
integrated services, managing these on a
city-wide basis to achieve economies of scale.
4.4 Women’s representation 6.2 Other local government associations Councils at the union level are responsible for
Thirty-three per cent of seats are reserved for As local government is a provincial competence, libraries, local streets and street services, wells
women councillors in local government elections. the concept of organised local government gained and ponds, cattle ponds and grazing areas.
In the 2013 Balochistan local council elections, momentum in the provinces during the devolution Union guards, responsible for local security, may
2,335 out of 7,169 councillors were women: period. The Local Councils Association of the be appointed. Union councils work closely with
2,332 via reserved seats and three via non- Punjab (LCAP) was launched in July 2006 with village and neighbourhood councils in promoting
reserved seats. In the 2015 Cantonment elections, the aim of promoting and creating a coordinated and coordinating development activities, and
2 out of 199 seats were won by women, where the and unified approach by local governments in the submitting proposals through annual plans to
33% reservation was not implemented. No data province. Other provinces followed and by 2009 the district and tehsil levels to help inform the
was available on elected women representatives the Local Councils Association of Sindh, the Local development budget allocation process.
from KPK at the time of going to press Councils Association of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
the Local Councils Association of Balochistan had References and useful websites
5. SYSTEMS FOR all been established. However, there are currently 1a. Estimated Population 2014
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT no associations of local government bodies in http://finance.gov.pk/survey/
5.1 Legal requirement Gilgit-Baltistan, the Cantonments, the Federally chapters_14/12_Population.pdf
Each provincial law includes some mechanism Administered Tribal Areas or the Islamabad b. 1998 Population Census www.pbs.gov.pk/
for community involvement. Capital Territory. sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION BY
PROVINCE REGION SINCE 1951.pdf
5.2 Implementation 7. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS 2. UN statistics surface area
Councils are intended to take a proactive role Local government is a provincial responsibility http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/
in promoting citizen involvement, identifying and, in the absence of elected local products/dyb/dyb2006/Table03.pdf
priorities and problems, organising local governments, currently intergovernmental 3. Pakistan Constitution www.na.gov.pk/
micro-programmes, promoting civic education relations are limited to interaction between uploads/documents/1333523681_951.pdf
and gender equality, and organising youth and provincial local government departments 6a. Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination
recreational activities. and district administrations. In addition, the www.ipc.gov.pk
federal Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination b. Balochistan Local Government and Rural
5.3 E-government facilitates relations between the provinces. Development Department
Pakistan is in the process of developing a www.balochistan.gov.pk/index.
national e-government plan. It has already 8. MONITORING SYSTEMS php?option=com_content&view=category&i
achieved immense success in the area of The Local Government Ordinance 2001 provides d=39&Itemid=581
e-governance. With the successful introduction for the establishment of a district ombudsman, c. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government,
of 3G and 4G mobile broadband technology but revised monitoring systems are also reflected Elections and Rural Development
by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in the new provincial legislation. Department http://lgkp.gov.pk
(PTA), mobile broadband penetration has seen d. Punjab Local Government & Community
exponential growth. As a result PTA is now 9. FINANCE, STAFFING AND RESOURCES Development (LG&CD) Department
vigorously planning to harness this opportunity 9.1 Locally raised revenue http://lgcd.punjab.gov.pk
and make government services available via Ability to raise local revenue varies according to e. Sindh Local Government, Rural
mobile phone. provincial legislation. Development, Public Health Engineering,
and Housing and Town Planning Department
6. ORGANISED LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9.2 Transfers www.sindh.gov.pk
6.1 National local government association No information was available for this edition. f. Gilgit-Baltistan Local Government and Rural
There is currently no formal national local Development Department
government association in Pakistan. However, a 9.3 Local government staff www.gilgitbaltistan.gov.pk/
new national body to promote local democracy The senior administrative appointments at the 7. Pakistan government www. .gov.pk
is being set up: the Association for the three levels of local government are specified in 8. UNDP HDR Pakistan country profile
Development of Local Government (ADLG). the relevant local government Ordinances/Acts. http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK
District establishments, including those in city
districts, are composed of federal and provincial
civil servants, and are currently headed by a
district/city administrator.

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 country profile Pakistan

Annex A. Summary of service provision by different spheres of government in Pakistan

Services Delivering authority Remarks
Urban local Rural local

Central Provincial Districts councils councils

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
Police ■ ■ ■ Union guards only
Fire protection ■ ■
Civil protection ■
Criminal justice ■
Civil status register ■ ■ ■
Statistical office ■
Electoral register ■
EDUCATION
Pre-school (kindergarten & nursery) ■
Primary ■ ■ ■ ■
Secondary ■
Vocational & technical ■
Higher education ■
Adult education ■
SOCIAL WELFARE
Family welfare services
Welfare homes ■ ■ ■
Social security
PUBLIC HEALTH
Primary care
Hospitals ■ ■ ■
Health protection ■ ■ ■
HOUSING & TOWN PLANNING
Housing ■
Town planning ■
Regional planning
TRANSPORT
Roads ■ ■ ■
Transport ■ ■
Urban roads ■ ■
Urban rail ■
Ports ■
Airports ■
ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC SANITATION
Water & sanitation ■ ■ ■
Refuse collection & disposal ■ ■
Cemeteries & crematoria ■ ■
Slaughterhouses ■
Environmental protection ■ ■ ■ ■
Consumer protection ■ ■
CULTURE, LEISURE & SPORTS
Theatre & concerts ■ ■ ■
Museums & libraries ■ ■ ■ ■
Parks & open spaces ■ ■
Sports & leisure ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Religious facilities ■ ■
UTILITIES
Gas services ■
District heating
Water supply ■ ■ ■
Electricity ■ ■
ECONOMIC
Agriculture, forests & fisheries ■ ■
Local economic development/promotion ■ ■ ■
Trade & industry ■
Tourism ■ ■

KEY ■ Sole responsibility service
■ Joint responsibility service
■ Discretionary service

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