Both parties are dominated by landlords and industrialists, and believe in dynastic politics.
LAHORE: Every patriotic and thoughtful Pakistani would welcome the MQM in Punjab, a province dominated so far by the PML-N, the PPP and the PML-Q. At present, there seems to be little ideological difference between the PML-N and the PPP, so it will be good if a new political force were to make its presence felt in the country’s most populous province.
Both parties are dominated by landlords and industrialists, and believe in dynastic politics. Both, so far, have failed to solve the country’s many problems such as religious extremism, poverty, illiteracy, inequality, corruption, energy crisis and so on. The MQM, on the other hand, is made up of people drawn mostly from the middle class. In the Lahore rally, however, the participation by local people was thin, but that is understandable given that the city is a bastion of the PML-N. But this also means that the party will have to work really hard to create space for itself in the city, and in the province in general, and its organisational capabilities will be of help in this regard.
ST Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, April 12th, 2011.
