Daily Times

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) should be vigilant of the fact that making hollow claims will no longer work. People including columnists, scholars, media persons, and others from various walks of life have high hopes with PTI as an emerging federal party. And this is till the time PTI is not in power. Once it is elected to rule the country, people will start evaluating its policies.

The goals to be achieved in the first 100 days of the government were ambitiously put forward by the senior members of PTI in Islamabad. They are of huge significance to comprehend the politics of the party. As PTI is a new party, it has certain ambitions to fulfil once it holds power. There is no restriction over dreaming, and the future will determine if the dream of ruling Pakistan comes true for it or not.

Masses have been waiting for a messiah to provide them with basic necessities. Unfortunately, this dream of them could not have been realised. Quaid-e-Azam was the first and last person who in real spirit fulfilled the dream of his people to gain a separate homeland. After him, no one could live up to their expectations. People found Zulfikar Ali Bhutto a charismatic personality, who could transform their life, but his mission of roti, kapra, aur makan could not have been realised. General masses kept on being exploited by believing in the hollow claims of the political leaders.

Every other goal presented by PTI in its agenda was luring if seen from the public’s perspective. Two of the vital points to consider are: creating 10 million jobs and building five million houses. I am truly doubtful of the fact that both of them will be highly politicised as it has been observed in the past under the rule of PML-N and PPP. Political parties award only to their own representatives and their kith and kin from these types of schemes. Common people on a large scale get nothing.

Other parties should also introduce their own comprehensive agendas instead of finding faults with one another

Creating 10 million jobs does not seem possible at this moment. Will the jobs be like the ones awarded by preceding governments to its workers in PIA? There are hundreds of employees hired for a plane when, according to international standards, only few dozens of them are enough for successful operations. Moreover, 10 million jobs are quite huge in number. It will require investment of billions of dollars and this does not seem to be coming from any side. Frankly speaking, only if 10 percent of them are created and given to the deserved candidates, this goal will serve its purpose.

On the other side, the dream of building of 5 million houses can be realised but it will serve its purpose only at the time when the poor get the housing facility on merit.

The general masses, instead of party’s workers, should be benefitted. People do not like PPP, PML-N, and other traditional parties for this same reason, and they will not expect it from PTI. Even the dictators could not make the masses beneficiary from their so-called public-oriented schemes. And if PTI could not prove itself worthy to rule and if it did not walk the talk, it would be bashed severely by people from every ideology for having a ray of hope attached with it and supporting it unconditionally.

Lastly, presenting the agenda for the honeymoon period of the newly-formed government should be welcomed from all corners. Moreover, other parties should also introduce their own comprehensive agenda instead of finding faults with the traditional policies of each other. Unfortunately, consensus from the political side does not seem to be a real concern for the politicians themselves. Criticising each other has become our national habit, and this is the reason we are observing extreme actions taken by politicians even on media channels.

The writer has done Masters in Commerce and History and holds PG Diploma in International Affairs. He can be contacted at junaidalimalik3@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, May 27^th 2018.