
The development schemes, which have been stalled by the delay in releasing funds, involve road construction, healthcare, sanitation and water projects amongst others. While political parties are busy scoring points and trying to erode support for their rivals, the cost is being borne by the people who voted them into power. The Panama Papers revealed information highly relevant to the state of accountability and corruption in this country and the dialogue these revelations initiated is one that must continue. However, using this scandal as a smoke screen to take attention away from the very real issues of economic and social development is a tactic not suited to our elected leaders. The stalling of development projects in a province that has been sorely neglected in the past does not reflect well on the foresight or leadership abilities of the PML-N. Too often in the past it had been accused of being a Punjab-centric party. Its behaviour here will not help change this perception. Is it really all that surprising then that a significant portion of the populace does not trust the democratic process or the governments elected through it? The sooner the federal government decides to put aside political feuding and actually govern, the better it will be for the people of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2016.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ