Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan Muslim League (PML) leader and senior politician Riaz Fatyana has registered his new political party Awam League (AL) and decided to hold his party’s first national convention in Lahore in the last week of September this year.

Talking to the media, Fatyana said his party had a vast reform agenda. “Our mission is to make Pakistan a welfare state, and constitution and civil institutions would be reorganised,” Fatyana said. “We are in favour of a revolution rather than change in the country,” he said.

“About 90 percent of the population of Pakistan is living under the poverty line, while the remaining 10 percent has accumulated all resources,” he said. “Distribution of national wealth to common people is our party’s manifesto. Jobs would be given on the basis of merit and salary be given as per nature of job,” he said.

Highlighting his party’s manifesto, Fatyana said that education up to M.Phil would be free across the country and the deserving people would be provided health care and residential facilities free of cost. He said the unemployed youth, orphans and needy people would be given a living allowance. He said that minimum salary would be Rs 40,000 and labourers and farmers would be given 45 percent share in jobs. He said that public universities and teaching hospitals would be built at the district level and the existing infrastructure would be extended four times.

Fatyana said that establishment of residential colonies on the fertile agricultural land was a dangerous trend and his party would introduce multi-storey residential projects. Besides this, he said, elected agriculture chambers would be made across the country to fix the prices of agricultural products without the interference of the government and the businessmen.

The former education minister said that heavy taxes would be imposed on wealthy people and ordinary people would be given relief. He said the number of reserved seats for women in the National Assembly would be decreased and 40 percent of seats would be given to lawyers, teachers, overseas Pakistanis and representatives of farmers and labourers. “Overseas Pakistanis will be given the right to contest the election,” Fatyana said, adding that prices of industrial products would be fixed and lost traditions and moral values would be revived. He said that Pakistan was a nuclear state and his party would seek a permanent seat for the country in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Talking about the strategy of his newly-formed political party for the general election in 2018, Fatyana said that his party would contest the next general election at every level and make seat adjustment with other political parties if needed. “We will try our best not to include corrupt people in our party,” Fatyana concluded.