Members of the National Assembly should put forward solid proposals to ameliorate the lot of the common man
RAWALPINDI: The Election Commission of Pakistan’s asset declarations have brought into the limelight a bitter reality. Most of our leaders perched upon the ruling and opposition benches haven’t been entirely honest to the public. An ideal government will be by those who are honest and can be trusted by the public.
Certainly, the present ruling set-up is not an ideal one. How do we bridge the gap between the real and ideal government?
Philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that the governance gap could be filled by civil society through initiating debates in periodicals, journals and other spaces of public debate by intellectuals, academics, and public figures, other than through public-interest litigations.
Of course, civil society accepts education, healthcare and housing as basic rights. There have been a plethora of petitions to look into riggining allegations in elections but why has there not been a single petition to ensure that constitutionally equal citizens are given equal status with regard to the provision of education, healthcare and housing? Take the housing issue, for example.
The federal government carved out and allotted two DHA plots each to government servants in grade 22 and none for those below-22 grade. Why can’t housing societies or the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation do the same for the common man?
Instead of indulging in mudslinging, members of the National Assembly should embarrass the ruling benches into taking meaningful measures by putting forward solid proposals to ameliorate the lot of the common man.
Amjed Jaaved
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2016.
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