Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that the existence of Pakistan lies in the local government system, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Addressing a panel session titled “Devolution for Revolution” at ThinkFest, a political and literary festival on Saturday, he wondered why politicians were opposed to the system. “Those who feel threatened by it should consider it as a nursery where they receive training to ensure better governance.”
The entire world, he added, knew New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
He lamented that despite their role in strengthening grassroots politics, local governments continued to be neglected by political parties, which ultimately weakened civilian rule.
Three military rulers, he went on to say, Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf — had remained in power longer than any civilian government largely because they introduced local government systems and drew political strength from them.
Asif opined that the non-transfer of powers to local governments amounted to deceiving the masses.
He noted that local government elections, whenever held, had historically been far less controversial than national polls.
“Yet we have continued to avoid them,” he regretted.