March 14; The two day Workshop for the Honourable MPAs of Sindh and Balochistan on Consolidating Democratic Devolution in Pakistan after the 18th Amendment ended successfully in Karachi. Honourable Jan Muhammad Jamli, Acting Governor Balochistan, chaired the second day of the Workshop.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Ikram Ul Haq, Advocate Supreme Court and International Tax Counsel, said that in the fiscal arena, Pakistan presents a story of failure with fiscal deficit increasing; debt burden on the rise; uncontrolled expenses; non-devolvement of fiscal responsibility; low tax to GDP ratio and no providing of universal entitlements by the State. In order to consolidate gains of devolution, provinces have to be aware of their taxation rights. Fiscal empowerment of provinces in real sense is needed by giving them the right to tax goods and services within their boundaries. However, he added, provinces, in turn, must empower elected Local Governments.

Dr. Galina Kurlyandskaya, Center for Fiscal Policy, Russia, speaking on Fiscal Federalism and Accountability in Federal System shared that decentralization is the basic condition for an Accountable Government. For sub national Governments to be really accountable for their performance and to respond to citizens� opinion they need to enjoy fiscal powers re revenues and spending. Foundations of Government Accountability in Federal Countries, she suggested should be clear and long term delineation of powers, Prohibition of Federal unfunded mandates, revenue autonomy, spending autonomy, reliable and publicly accessible data and performance indicators on each level of Government.

Professor Roberta Ryan, Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and UTS Centre for Local Government spoke on the ways of addressing the capacity gaps to civil society participation. She said that Civil Society Organizations and Government authorities must understand and make the case for the �value they claim to create�. Public participation has a role in creating public value and enabling citizen democratic capacity. She argued that critical capacity gap in Pakistan � and a key to the transition to strengthened democracy � is the key role for NGO�s and this can be done through harnessing citizens through educative, deliberative participatory processes.

Professor Roberta Ryan concluded that the community is interested and concerned about their environment; they have good ideas about what will work in their local context. Given good quality information, citizens will produce high quality, realistic, and practical outcomes. The importance of trusting citizens� capacity to develop better outcomes for the wider community, and the similar capacity of NGO�s and local government to support citizens in this role.

Earlier, Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director PILDAT welcomed the participants of the Workshop and introduced the eminent Speakers of the second day of the Workshop. She also gave a recap of day one of the Workshop.

The participants who joined the Workshop from Balochistan Assembly include Honourable Engr. Zmarak Khan, MPA(PB-12 Killa Abdullah-II,ANP), Honourable Mrs. Husan Bano, MPA(PBW-61,JUI-F) Dr. Shama Ishaq, MPA(PBW-59,NP) Honourable Mr. Syed Muhammad Raza, MPA(PB-2 Quetta-II,MWM) Honourable Ms. Masooma Hayat, MPA(PBW-55,PKMAP) Honourable Ms. Samina Khan, MPA(PBW-53,PML-N) Honourable Ms. Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani, MPA (PBW-54,PML-N) Honourable Mr. Sardar Raza Muhammad Barrech, MPA(PB-4 Quetta-IV,PKMAP) Honourable Mr. Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, MPA(PB-6 Quetta-VI,PKMAP) Honourable Mr. Handery Masieh, MPA(NM-65,NP) Honourable Mr. Nasrullah Khan Zaire, MPA(PB-5 Quetta-V,PKMAP) Honourable Ms. Spozmi Achakzai, MPA(PBW-56,PKMAP) Honourable Ms. Arfa Siddique, MPA(PBW-57,PKMAP), Honourable Mr. Agha Syed Liaqat Ali, MPA(PB-8-Pishin-I,PKMAP) Honourable Mr. Haji Abdul Malik Kakar, MPA(PB-9-Pishin-II,JUI-F) Honourable Mr. Mir Amir Rind, MPA(PB-31 Bolan-II,PML-N) Honourable Mr. Ubaidullah Jan Babat, MPA(PB-16 Loralai-II,PKMAP) while the MPAs from Sindh Assembly participating in the Workshop include Honourable Mr. Imdad Ali Pitafi, MPA (PS-52, Tando Allayar-II , PPPP), Honourable Ms. Seema Zia, MPA (RSW-159, PTI), Honourable Mr. Kamran Akhtar, MPA (PS-91,Karachi-III, MQM) Honourable Mr. Samar Ali Khan, MPA (PS-113, Karachi-XXV, PTI) Honourable Mr. Syed Ghulam Shah Jeelani, MPA(PS-75Dadu-II-Old Dadu-V,PPPP) Honourable Mahtab Akbar Rashdi, MPA(RSW-156,PML-F) Honourable Mr. Shafi Muhammad Jamot, MPA(PS-129,Karachi-XLI,PML-N) Honourable Ms. Sorath Thebo, MPA( RSW-158,PML-N) Honourable Mr. Irfanullah Khan Marwat, MPA(PS-114,Karachi-XXVI,PML-N) Honourable Ms. Irum Azeem Farooque, MPA(RSW-154,MQM) Honourable Mr. Syed Khalid Ahmed(PS-122,Karachi-XXXIV,MQM) Honourable Mr. Waqar Hussain Shah, MPA(PS-128,Karachi-XL,MQM) Honourable Mr. Khurrum Sher Zaman, MPA(PS-122,Karachi-XXIV,PTI) Honourable Mr. Syed Sardar Ahmad, MPA(PS-124,Karachi-XXXVI,MQM) Honourable Mr. Syed Hafeezuddin, MPA(PS-93,Karachi-V,PTI) Honourable Ms. Nusrat Sultana, MPA(RSW-134,PPPP) Honourable Ms. Shaheena Sher Ali, MPA(RSW-141,PPPP) Honourable Mr. Fayaz Ali Butt, MPA(PS-77 Dadu-IV,PPPP) Honourable Ms. Parveen Aziz Junejo, MPA(PS-76 Dadu-III(old Dadu-VI,PPPP) Honourable Ms. Kulsoom Akhtar Chandio, MPA(RSW-135,PPPP) Honourable Engr. Pesu Mal, MPA(RSW-163,PPPP) Honourable Mr. Faqir Dad Khoso, MPA(PS-72,Jamshoro-II,PPPP) Honourable Ms. Shamim Mumtaz, MPA(RSW-138,PPPP).

Following Discussion Papers were also shared among participants as backgrounder on Federalism:

Historical Evolution of Federalism in Pakistan  [English Version]   [Urdu Version]   [Sindhi Version]

Inter-Governmental Relations in Pakistan Evolution and Potential with Relation to 18th Amendment  [English Version]   [Urdu Version   [Sindhi Version]]

Pakistan Fiscal Management And Accountability [English Version]

These workshops are part of the project funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade & Development of the Government of Canada.