ABSTRACT
Federalism has become one of the most commonly advocated tools for conflict regulation in ethnically divided societies. A multi-ethnic state confronted with the self-assertion of different ethnic groups since its inception, Pakistan has experimented with different institutional designs to manage its ethnic diversity. The latest major transformation in the constitutional design of the country was the unanimous passage of the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment in April 2010. Widely regarded as one of the landmark achievements in the constitutional and political history of Pakistan, the amendment, among others, redefined the troubled federal-provincial relations through the devolution of powers to the provinces. This decentralization, framers and supporters of the amendment hoped, would allay the concerns of ethno-regional minorities and bolster interethnic harmony and federal integrity. In particular, it was expected to have a pacifying impact on the ethnic conflict in Balochistan. This has not happened. Although moderate Baloch have re-entered the mainstream political process and formed the provincial government, Baloch separatists continue to fight. The persistence of low-scale insurgency in Balochistan raises serious questions about the efficacy of political and fiscal decentralization as a means of ethnic conflict management. This chapter aims to evaluate the potential of the Eighteenth Amendment to reduce and ultimately resolve the ethnic conflict in Balochistan. It examines the political concessions granted by the Eighteenth Amendment and assesses their effect on the ethno-nationalist politics of the province. Recognizing the considerably short time that has passed since the implementation of the amendment started, the study seeks to understand and identify the diverse ways in which the amendment has affected, and is likely to affect, ethno-nationalist politics in the province.
