March 28, 2013

Unprecedented bad governance and failure of the rulers in the Centre to halt the economic meltdown in the last five years coupled with the absence of a party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the President Asif Ali Zardari, who is barred from visiting any constituency or polling station, the PPP has lost considerable popular support and the face in the country. Thus, the hope is building around Nawaz Sharif rather he is being treated like a government in the making.
Relatively quite in the outgoing term, the boosted-up PML-N chief Nawaz has kick-started his election campaign from Mansehra to demonstrate a matching show of strength to that of PTI’s in Lahore. Initially, both PML-N and PTI have drawn a considerable attention from the masses that has led the political pundits to believe that the real fight for supremacy especially over Punjab will be between these two parties. At this point in time, it is difficult to pick the winner of the next election. However, a large number of electable feudal lords, from unstable Sindh, restive Balochistan and equally war-torn KPK, are rallying around PML-N.

Hence Nawaz Sharif holds an upper hand in the run-up of the elections. Yet the PTI challenge to PML-N and a subsequent intense rivalry between the two political parties has generated a serious debate on the real economic issues of the country as a part of electioneering activities. In his political rhetoric, Nawaz equates the development of the country with progress of Sindh but he did not mention how he will retrieve law and order situation in Karachi. The need-based outbursts are certainly growing a sense of deprivation amongst the people of far-flung areas of the Balochistan and KPK—the provinces lagging far behind in education and health sectors—notwithstanding the long ignored development projects there. Irony of the ironies is: Even today Chitral remains virtually inaccessible in the winter. The people of Chitral travel to Pakistan via Afghanistan during the winter as Lowari top is closed for traffic for most part of the year.

A project like Lowari Tunnel, conceived in 1956 will connect and facilitate all-weather transportation. Alas! No words so far have been heard from horses’ mouth. The PML-N chief, though, takes pride for conducting nuclear bomb explosions and now has promised to go for economic blasts yet he is non-committal over restarting of Kohlu gas exploration project which was declared force de majeure since Musharraf era. The Kohlu field carries gas reservoirs of 35 trillion cubic feet which is sufficient enough to meet the energy needs of the country for decades, apart from providing jobs to thousands of the unemployed youth and billions of dollars royalty to fund-starved Balochistan. The residents of FATA, under the siege of terrorism, are itching to participate in the first party-based elections yet none of the parties has given roadmap for holding election there. Merely banking on the performance in the Punjab or political statements in the election rallies may attract clapping or sloganeering there in venues of the rallies. But these are not sufficient enough to satisfy the starved people of Pakistan. PML-N think-tank needs a complete homework and proper research on the disturbing ground realities particularly in smaller provinces.

The PML-N seems to be riding on a bumpy road. As for the Pakistan People’s Party, President Asif Ali Zardari, confined to the presidency, Bilawal Bhutto gone abroad after reportedly refusing to lead the party, reshuffled the hierarchy in the PPP has, so far, failed to initiate its political campaign. The political arena, indeed, is left open for the PML-N versus the PTI political bout that might have rung alarming bells for President Zardari-- as for him-- the prospects for retaining presidency for the second term in August are diminishing fast. On the other hand, the Election Commission of Pakistan has again been directed to initiate proceedings against parliamentarians holding fake degrees. Previously, it was perceivably the rulers ran amok to extend their rule to the last-- now they are history. Thus the Commission must ensure that each and every direction of the apex court is implemented in letter and spirit instead of relying on ‘ifs and buts.’ Notwithstanding any hidden mala fide from any quarter, for the first time, a stage is set in Pakistan and conditions are perfect and the best suited to hold free, fair and impartial elections, paving way for popular will to prevail in the country.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/article/214110/