Now that a consensus has been reached on the 18th amendment to the 1973 constitution, it is time our elected representatives diverted their attention to real issues that confront our people. True, the constitutional reform was a necessity because it is the basic document on which foundations and structure of law of the state is based. But our problem has never been the absence of laws, but lack of their implementation. It matters to people that they have a right to vote for any individual, without any bar or bias to the number of times he can serve in a constitutional capacity. But it shocks them when permission is proposed to be given to individuals found guilty of a heinous crime and yet allowed to seek elected public office after a lapse of some number of years. This basically means that the endless rape of this country by the present political elite would continue in times to come. The problem of this country is that its elected leaders consider themselves to be above the law, exempt from rules and all taxes and yet claim a limitless right to perks and privileges of the state. -ANEELA CHANDIO, Sukkur, April 4