fter the passage of the historic 18th amendment to the constitution, Pakistan’s political actors seem to have – intentionally or unintentionally – forgotten the subsequent measures meant to be taken for empowering intergovernmental relations. These thoughts were expressed on Monday by Supreme Court advocate and international tax counsel Dr Ikram-ul-Haq in his session ‘Fiscal Management: Devolution and Fiscal Challenges in Pakistan’ on the concluding day of the ‘Consolidating Democratic Devolution’ workshop organised by the Forum of Federations (FOF) at a hotel. Dr Haq observed that after the 18th amendment was passed, the nature of the federal system of the Pakistani state was redefined in a way. The legislative as well as administrative powers underwent a process of redistribution; the prevailing tendency of fiscal federalism was reintegrated, while the role of provinces in solving issues related to the social sector also expanded. Similarly, opportunities for structural and policy reforms enhanced; but most of all democracy was given a chance to strengthen through elected local bodies, a chance blatantly being ignored by the state’s political actors. Speaking of failure to achieve the right amount of development within the right time, Dr Haq said most of the issues threatening development emanated from within the state rather than without. The lack of success of the federal and provincial governments in maintaining law and order in the country was identified as the biggest failure of the state. He said our governments proved to be the main impediments to success, whether it was the stunted economic growth or protection of lives, liberties and properties of the people. He also brought into question the absence of allocation of resources in the educational budget regarding provision of basic education, free of charge to students – a right specified in the constitution. The lack of adherence of the ruling elite towards constitutional principles speaks volumes of non-seriousness in their approach towards development, he said, adding that our ruling class had [mis]taken the “state” for an “estate”. Speaking about fiscal management, he remarked that the federal government had encroached on the fiscal rights of the provinces. Citing as an example the demand made by the federal government during the country’s initial years for sales tax to be made a federal subject, he said that although it was to be made a provincial subject soon afterwards, it still remained a distant dream. The lack of will to tax the rich as well as an impractical approach towards devolution of power and an ineffective attitude towards ensuring universal entitlements such as water and healthcare were also identified as failures of the federating units. “Overstating tax return targets by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and not being able to achieve them has become a norm,” he said while discussing the functioning of the FBR. He also lamented the board for not being able to produce a comprehensive study regarding potential tax collection. Discussing the fiscal deficit for the year 2014-15, he said the official figures confirmed that our public debt stood at a massive 70 percent of the GDP, consequently making the debt burden difficult to service. Furthermore, the violation of Article 140A of the constitution, which entails the right to form local governments, was also a hindrance towards fiscal management. He advised dividing fiscal and taxing powers equally between the federal and provincial governments, and suggested extending constitutional operation to FATA and PATA. A national tax authority should also be set up for effective tax collection, and redistribution of income and wealth. He added that the only way to properly manage fiscal discrepancies was for the federal and provincial governments to work together. However, he stressed giving the provinces ownership of their respective resources. Fatima Guerreiro (fiscal auditor of the Brazilian state of Bahia) and VN Alok (professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration) gave an overview of the nature and characteristics of intergovernmental relations in their respective countries. The two-day workshop was concluded by FOF Programme Manager Phillip Gonzalez. The FOF is a non-governmental organisation working on building democracy through sharing experiences of federalism and decentralisation of states world over. The forum is based in Canada and supported by nine other partner countries, including Pakistan, which supports the initiative through the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination. thenews.pk/Todays-News-4-275754-A-long-way-from-empowering-intergovernmental-relations
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:11:56 +0000
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