Political parties across the spectrum have questioned the military government's claim that elections to local councils in 18 of the 106 administrative districts in Pakistan, which they were barred from participating in, represent a return to "genuine democracy". The military government, on the other hand, insists that the purpose of the exercise is to create local bodies through "a devolution of power to the grass roots level". There are aspects of the elections that seem, on the face of it, to be reformist in intent, but there is also enough evidence to justify the charge levelled by the political parties that the military government is merely delaying democratic restoration through such stratagems.
The elections, the first of a three-phase schedule, held at the end of December 2000 under tight military supervision and severe campaign restrictions, introduced some new measures which the military says will ensure the political presence of various social groups. One-third of the seats on the councils were reserved for women, but women's activists and groups have scoffed at this 'cosmetic' measure, since women will merely provide the mask behind which the traditional male dominance of the political process can continue. Seats have also been reserved for other groups, such as non-Muslim minorities. The catch in the case of minorities is that they are only allowed to vote for a single representative on each council, prompting some Christian and Hindu organisations to boycott the polls.
Predictably, both the government and the political parties have conflicting versions of the success of the elections. Official figures claim a 46 percent voter turnout and Election Commission data shows that 21,890 candidates contested the 7648 non-reserved seats to the 956 councils for which voting took place. However, official figures also concede that 10 percent of the total seats, most of them reserved for minorities, were filled without contest because there were no rival candidates. Besides, as many as three-quarters of the seats reserved for non-Muslims remained vacant. Spokesmen of political parties were quick to question the official version. "There was little interest in these elections and we feel this exercise is actually aimed at prolonging the return to democracy", said a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) official.
Clearly the dispute about the success of the election is crucially linked to the larger concern of political parties about the long-term intentions of the military government. Potentially, the military could adhere to the Supreme Court's two-year deadline for the restoration of democracy and yet retain its dominance in national politics by circumventing the existing political process and using the time at its disposal to gradually create a hierarchy of 'guided democratic' institutions. From the local bodies upwards, this could serve to marginalise or divide current political formations. Local bodies without party delegates are perhaps seen as a good launching pad if they can be turned into breeding grounds for a new stratum of civilian political clients who could cement a base for whatever domesticated dispensation is visualised for the higher levels. The fact that no timetable has been announced for elections at higher levels suggests that the future course will be dictated by what happens in the remaining phases of the local-body elections, to be completed by the end of June 2001.