lahore - Who should one vote for? This will be the major question before the people on Saturday when they will be standing in polling booths to exercise their constitutional right to choose the rulers for the next five years. They would certainly support the party or parties which, in their judgment, have the commitment and capacity to solve people’s problems.
In these elections, although dozens of political parties are contesting, the three major among them are: the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI. The remaining parties will, in the end, align with the bigger parties and form coalitions.
The PPP and the PML-N have been in power for several years, but the PTI is just a new entrant in the field. Its Chairman Imran Khan was the only PTI leader elected in the 2002 elections. Some of its important leaders, who have come from other parties, have, however, been in power in the past and have experience of running various ministries.
Corruption in all departments, a ‘criminal’ police and patwari culture, price-hike, unemployment, deteriorating law and order situation and the energy crisis are the major problems facing the country. Most of these problems are chronic and successive governments failed to address them.
If these problems are resolved the common man will be least bothered which party is in power or which political system is in force. But if these problems remain unsolved, the constitutional amendments passed by any particular government, the finance commission awards, friendly or unfriendly ties with various countries will be totally irrelevant for them. Such ‘achievements’ are of no consequence for those who don’t have enough to eat or to meet their other daily needs.
Now let’s see how much the PPP and the PML-N have been able to make the life of the common man easier.
Many think that the PPP’s image has been tarnished by corruption charges. Its leaders, from top to bottom, faced corruption charges. They included President Zardari, two former prime ministers: Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Asharf.
Critics allege that leaders of this party pushed the country to darkness to light the economic future of their coming generations.
The former PPP government sold all important juicy jobs, after which the ‘buyers’ were left with no option but to recover their investments with dividends. The huge increase in corruption witnessed over the past five years and the ‘sickness’ of all important state institutions could be attributed to this ‘sale-purchase’ business.
The PPP-led coalition failed on all fronts. And with such a poor performance, it will be lunatic if people still voted for this party. Still more unfortunate would be the situation if it got seats enough to form a coalition once again.
The story of the Sharifs’ rule is also not much rosy.
The Sharif brothers have been ruling Punjab since 1985 – except for short breaks – when they were in opposition or out of the country.
Mian Nawaz Sharif remained the Punjab chief minister from 1985 to 1990. Then when he became prime minister in 1990 and stayed till 1993, the PML was also in power in Punjab (with Ghulam Haider Wyne as the chief minister).
Mr Sharif again became the prime minister after the 1997 polls and remained in power till October 1999, when Gen Musharraf toppled his government.
Mian Shahbaz Sharif was the Punjab chief minister during that period. And then, he again stayed as the Punjab chief executive for full five years after the 2008 polls.
But the problems cited above are as serious in Punjab as elsewhere in the country, where other parties were in the driving seat.
God forbid, if misfortune takes somebody to a police station today, he would experience the ‘changed culture’ of the institution. Maybe there are some exceptions, otherwise families of both the murderer and the murdered have to bribe the police to get ‘justice’. This has been going on in the past and remains in practice even today.
Several incidents of uniformed policemen’s involvement in dacoities and robberies have been reported by the media, which is something shameful in civilised societies.
The ‘deterrence’ of the police for the criminals can be gauged from the fact that now the outlaws go for dacoities, kidnappings for ransom and other daring activities which yield maximum booty in shortest time. Thefts are committed only by the cowardly people.
A couple of years ago, the writer asked Shahbaz Sharif why he had failed to reform the police culture despite the fact that he and his brother Nawaz Sharif have been ruling Punjab since 1985. The answer was that Gen Musharraf’s policies had reversed the results of his efforts. How convincing the answer?
True, the law and order situation in Punjab is comparatively better than in other provinces and the credit for it goes to the administrative qualities of Shahbaz Sharif. But it is also a fact that no less heinous crimes are committed in this province whenever the criminals get a chance.
Patwaris are also a force of looters. They don’t move unless their palms are greased.
The rulers don’t agree with such allegations because they get done whatever they want to. For rulers, all institutions are ready to bend the rules and carry out even illegal orders.
Claims that the chief minister launched a metro bus project, gave students laptops, solar lamps or other things are of little significance because they were purchased with public money. Anybody with resources at his disposal could do the same. The question is why no change could be brought about where the money was not needed?
The claims that there was no corruption in Punjab are simply baseless. TheNation reporter visited the Anti-Corruption Department many a time to get information about the state of corruption in government departments. The relevant people in the department refused to share any information with him. They did not give him even the annual reports the department publishes to highlight its performance.
If access to the department is denied, how would one know the state of corruption or lack of it?
In a big scam a few years ago, permission was sought by the Anti-Corruption Department from the chief minister (Shahbaz Sharif) to arrest various officials. He shelved the case of the seniors, allowing the arrest of the junior ones only.
Nepotism and favouritism are the hallmark of this party. Butts, Khwajas, Mirs and Dars will be seen occupying all important positions.
More chances to this party to rule would mean the induction of more people from the same clan for important positions.
This leaves the people with the only option of pinning their hopes on the PTI.
The party has no experience of ruling the country. Most of its adherents are debutants in politics. They are well-educated but are unaware of the electoral politics. Only a few experienced leaders have come from other parties and they have relatively a better reputation.
Imran Khan wants to do a lot for the people, as he did by setting up a cancer hospital and a university. He is for making Pakistan self-reliant, with no dependence on foreign aid. He is also for a uniform system of education.
Maybe, he performs better if he gets a chance to rule the country.
Despite the comparison of the three parties, it’s for the people to decide which one of them should run the country for the next five years.