Ironically, Pakistan is a country of 250 million people, and is being administered by only 728 members of provincial assemblies. The local governance structure has been in a dormant state in the country for a long time. Although local governance is a democratic trait—or rather a sine qua non of democracy—its promotion in the country was, more ironically, undertaken by military dictators rather than the political leaders of the country.

The Interim Constitution of Pakistan, the Government of India Act 1935, stipulated the formation of local government in provinces. After independence, only the Punjab province had a local governance structure, but only in some areas, which were largely controlled by bureaucracies. The chequered period of democracy from independence to the abrogation of the first constitution by Ayub Khan saw no development in this regard.

It was only Ayub Khan who pioneered the local governance system in Pakistan. In 1959, he formed 80,000 basic democracies across the country; however, his intention behind this move was not devoid of malicious political ambitions. By dint of the BDs, he defeated Fatima Jinnah in the 1965 election, despite her having great political support in the country.

Pakistan outplayed by arch-rivals India in Asia Cup 2025 encounter ........

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