Magnificent manifestos

PML-N's Manifesto stays almost silent on the crucial issue of militancy and law and order.

In the final run, manifestos should, of course, be what elections are all about; voting should take place on the basis of what they say, and the policies they lay out. The truth, however, is that, in our country at least, people rarely vote for a party because of what its manifesto says. Too many other factors come into play and eventually determine how votes are cast. Low literacy rates and lack of awareness probably both play a role in this.

But it is also true that manifestos have become a bit of a cosmetic exercise. In too many cases — perhaps nearly all the cases — they are designed to look good and make many promises.

The crucial nitty gritty of how these promises will actually be delivered is kept rather vague. This is certainly true of the PML-N manifesto unveiled by Mian Nawaz Sharif at Lahore Press Club on March 7. The manifesto focuses on an economic revival by expanding exports dramatically. Ominously, however, it stays almost silent on the crucial issue of militancy and law and order. Both, of course, have an enormous impact on lives and it is hard to see how an economic revival can take place in the presence of killings and chaos. Coping with terrorism, and defeating it, would have to be central concerns to manage any kind of national revival.



Interestingly enough, the PML-N’s latest policy document also backtracks on some of what the party said in 2008. It does not, for instance, mention the Kalabagh Dam (KBD), of which the party has in the past been a strong advocate, perhaps to ensure vote gains in smaller provinces. This then is opportunism at its best. If the party thinks the KBD should be built and can benefit people, it should say so. The PML-N, which had vehemently opposed the MQM-sponsored Sindh Peoples Local Government Ordinance of 2012, later scrapped by the PPP, vows it will conduct new local level polls. It also speaks of solving the energy crisis, ending corruption and promoting education. The question though is how much of the words we can believe and if there is true intent behind them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2013.