During the time of Musharraf, seats were reserved for women in the Assemblies to give them more representation. As such, relatives of well known politicians were nominated to fill in the gap. Similarly, a few technocrats were also selected and this practice continued during the PPP rule. However, such a nomination negates the basic principle of democracy, where people have a role in the selection of an elected government. All those who are sitting in Assemblies on the basis of selection are not true representatives of the people.
Each member of the Assembly costs the government in the way of salaries and job perks. We claim to follow a policy of austerity, but we are building a system that is expensive and unaffordable for a poor state like ours. We must cut down expenditures that do not influence our efficiency or productivity.
M. AFZAL SADIQ,
Attock, March 29.