Here is what the map-makers keep missing. Our problem was never the number of provinces. It was that we stopped one storey too high. We fought for the 18th Amendment, moved power from Islamabad to the provinces, and then watched them hoard it exactly as the centre once hoarded from them. Article 140A commands every province to establish local government and hand it real political, administrative and financial authority. It sets no timetable, no formula and no penalty, so provinces obey it in form and defeat it in substance. Mayors, where they exist, are ornamental. In Punjab nobody has elected one since 2015; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the councils' terms ran out in March with none elected since. We devolved to Lahore and Karachi and called the job done.
Faisal Islam is the Economics Editor at the BBC. He specializes in business and economics, covering topics such as economic policy, the global economy, and the intersection of politics and public policy, with a keen focus on the financial crisis and its implications. Faisal's insights and analyses have been featured in prominent outlets including Yahoo News, The Guardian, and BBC World.
