UNDERSTANDING THE DEVOLUTION AND EIGHTEENTH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IN PAKISTAN: CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

Abstract

18th constitutional amendment that is hailed as a negotiated legislative revolution in Pakistan, attempted to restore the federal character of the state. It devolved administrative powers to provinces, granted them with more autonomy, relocated numerous subjects and affected more than 36 percent of the constitution of Pakistan. However, its implementation suffered from different setbacks. Using qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews of politicians, academicians and civil servants, this paper identifies different challenges that adversely affected the implementation of eighteenth amendment and proposes multiple suggestions for its effective implementation. The study finds recreation of devolved ministries at federal level, increased financial liabilities of the provinces after the amendment, decreased prospects of career growth of employees in devolved ministries and retention of the financially strong ministries by the federal government as some of the obstructions in the smooth implementation of 18th constitutional amendment. Formation of effective local governments, active role by the senate´s functional committee on devolution and fair fiscal transfer to provinces are some of the suggestions for its smooth implementation.