As of July 24, flash floods and torrential rainfall have claimed 42 lives, inundated several villages in north Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Zhob district, Balochistan, destroyed several roads, bridges and other infrastructure, particularly in and around Chitral. Keeping this situation in mind, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs suggested on Friday that the upcoming local bodies (LB) elections of Punjab and Sindh be postponed. The committee, in a meeting with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), argued that the elections cannot be held as scheduled and should be postponed to September 26. So now, not only are the floods taking human lives, destroying the livelihood and prosperity of rural and small town communities, but are also choking up the LB electoral process, which is the very backbone of a democratic system. Although countries, non-governmental organisations and the international community continue to help out during the annual crisis of the floods, Pakistan’s growing inability to manage them will soon become a testament to the incompetence of our state to the rest of the world. ECP Secretary Babar Yaqub has said that army personnel cannot be deployed to conduct the elections because they are already engaged in flood relief efforts. The reason that the committee and the ECP feel the need involve the army in the electoral process is because the continuing lapses in the electoral system have led to so much political chaos in the recent past. At this point in Pakistan’s history however, the civilian government cannot afford to keep failing and expecting the army to fill in the gaps without leading the public, both here and abroad, to believe that Pakistan is not yet ready for democracy and that military dictatorship is the only viable option. At the parliamentary meeting on the LB elections, the ECP also discussed the shortcomings of the electoral process in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) LB elections that were mired in rigging allegations and Assembly walk-outs by the opposition against the ruling PTI, which ironically had done the same to the PML-N. Politicians need to learn by now that such protests and stubborn stand-offs only waste the time of the country and prevent them from governing. It turned out that the KP LB elections were too large and complicated for the provincial government to handle, and they should have held the elections in phases as the ECP had suggested. The Sindh and Punjab LB polls will be even larger and more complicated and should also be held in phases, as weather permits, rather than postponed, because the floods could still be a hindrance in September in the areas affected. LBs play an essential role in representing communities at the grassroots level on the national political stage and hence, these elections should be taken seriously. It still seems that the government is not prepared to manage these elections efficiently. Have we not learned from the fallout of the sit-ins and walkouts following the 2013 general election, the governance stalling drama of which was only resolved this week with the release of the judicial commission’s report? This lack of preparation seems to be a systemic problem as the floods cause enormous damage each year, which could be mitigated by foresight before the monsoon begins. It is true that the monsoon floods have been getting worse due to the effects of climate change (like the melting of the glaciers), but none of this is new or surprising information. The disaster management authorities do not have sufficient personnel and equipment on hand in times of crisis, forcing them to rely on voluntary rescue workers and the military to help evacuate people and mitigate the damages of the floods. All our prime minister seems to be able to do during a heatwave or flood is express sympathies after the crisis has already hit. Now it seems that the federal and provincial governments cannot even muster enough intra-party cooperation and planning to hold LB elections. All one can do at this point is hope that the government can keep its head above water, along with the rest of the country. *