Service delivery sole criteria to compete for public office, says PM

Shehbaz says Pakistan's politics suffers from 'structural flaw', reduced to 'meaningless rhetoric'

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said politics in the country has been reduced to "meaningless rhetoric" and termed service delivery as the main criterion to compete for public office. 

The premier made the remarks on Twitter and maintained that “our politics suffers from a structural flaw”, adding that it has been “reduced to a shorthand for grandstanding and meaningless rhetoric.”

In an early morning tweet, Shehbaz furthered that "service delivery alone should govern competition for public office. Politics is an arena where people compete to serve fellow citizens.”

Read Govt appears to backtrack on talks with PTI

Our politics suffers from a structural flaw. It has, unfortunately, been reduced to a shorthand for grandstanding & meaningless rhetoric. To me, service delivery alone should govern competition for public office. Politics is an arena where people compete to serve fellow citizens.

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 19, 2023

The remarks by the premier come as the government failed to reach any consensus on the issue of holding negotiations with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), but separately the parties met with one another to break the current political impasse.

Sources revealed that the ruling alliance was not on the same page when it comes to holding talks with the PTI while, on the other, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb refuted all such sources-based reports, saying the reports of differences among the coalition partners were “wrong” and “baseless”.

Read More Talks should ensure institutions’ impartiality: Haq

In the meeting, chaired by PM Shehbaz, sources said that the coalition parties took a stand that the supremacy of parliament would be maintained at any cost, saying the ruling alliance vowed that they would resist any attempt to undermine the authority of parliament.

During the meeting, the sources said, PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari insisted on holding negotiations with the PTI on the issue of elections, contending that closing the doors to talks was not only against his party’s principles but also undemocratic and unpolitical.

The sources maintained that Bilawal added that it was the need of the hour to take the path of dialogue to bring the country out of its current crises.