Daily Times

Sir: This is with reference to Salman Tarik Kureshi’s article “A dearth of greatness”. (Daily Times, October 31) It is quite sad that the PPP-led government, despite a national high after the February 2008 elections, has failed to hold its ground and build support for most of its policies. The entire nation was ecstatic that almost a decade of dictatorship was coming to an end, that the party should have used this opportunity; indeed, every party should have used this opportunity. And despite the loss of the irreplaceable Benazir Bhutto, the PPP still had enough human resources within it to make some serious progress. And the PMLN, instead of staying true to its promises of playing a constructive role, decided to return to its old tricks. Indeed, both parties have simply started replaying the petty fights of the 1990s which had frustrated the people so much that some distributed sweetmeats after the 1999 coup!

The government still has enough time to change this state of affairs; it needs to do a better job of selling its point of view and policies to the people of Pakistan in opposition to the other parties who are proving to be far more media savvy than those in government. We need the government and the people to be close; else we will not achieve enough political stability to fix all the major problems facing our country. As an example, the debate over the Kerry-Lugar bill should have been about how to reduce corruption and best utilise the (unconditional) non-military aid. Instead, in reply to the government’s feeble PR attempts, the opposition managed to turn it into a vague and furious debate about honour.
MUSTAFA KAZI
Islamabad