Without an exact date of election there may be an argument that pre election activities do not yet have cause to start. Elections are expensive, canvassing, campaigning, it all costs funds. Those funds spread out over too long a period of time, have little to no effect. Candidates could understandably be reluctant to campaign in order not to spend funds too far ahead of the date of an election.
But it doesn’t really explain why none of the political parties have as yet started to float their manifestos and agendas. Talkshows mention nothing about plans for the economy. Party representatives speak of past indignities, nothing of the future. Other than the speech of PMLN boss Mian Nawaz, who gave an optimistic assesment of Pakistan’s path to prosperity in the future, no others have mentioned the economy at all. And surely it is the economic woes that assail the average voter that will swing their vote.
After months of backbreaking inflation, the rage in the public will sway their political allegiance. Explaining away 16 months of PDM economic chaos as a byproduct of the PTI government -- while true -- will not be enough. The voter is looking not just for someone to blame, but also someone to elect.
Pakistan’s young population, the bulk of whom are now in an age group where they are about to start families of their own, is in need of jobs. Industries are in need of predictable and growth-friendly policies. Businesses are in need of customers with ample disposable income. While political party representatives argue over level playing fields, voters look to them with ever less hope of having answers to questions that impact their daily lives. A little less navel gazing, and a little more care for the hopes and dreams of their constituents is required of our politicians.