Poles apart: People’s pulse evading the contestants
Opposition parties set to take populist approach; people want issues on ground addressed.
Opposition parties set to take populist approach; people want issues on ground addressed. PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI:
While defining ‘democracy’ dictionaries of all languages cannot do without the word ‘people.’ This effectively means people are to be at the centre of any political activity.
In the garrison town, the opposition parties seem to be missing this subtle but important bit in the run up to local government (LG) elections next month. They apparently are blinded by the glaze of the populist approach of speaking up against ‘price hike’ while ignoring such issues as water, sanitation and street paving.
They may get a hit for that as a survey by The Express Tribune suggests.
With LG elections are around the corner, the opposition parties including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) look set to contest them around issues of price hike and energy crisis.
Conversely most of the citizens are of the view that more pressing issues like water scarcity and sewerage were being ignored in the campaign.
“Hospitals and schools lacking facilities, disposal of solid waste, poor drainage system, unsafe drinking water and dilapidated streets are the problems we are facing but unfortunately most of the contesting candidates are unaware of them,” said Safdar Satti of Satellite Town.
“Currently, price hike is a burning issue throughout the country and protests are being staged against government’s failure to control it,” said JI District Chief Sajjad Abbasi.
JI candidates say they will prioritise this issue in their campaigns as they believe that by controlling prices we can also resolve the rest of the issues. “We will form special price control committees to ensure provision of commodities at a reasonable rate,” said Atif Abbasi, a candidate for union council (UC) No.13 in Rawal Town.
Though there are other issues like education, health and energy crises which will also be highlighted during our campaign, he said.
District president of PTI Sagheer Chaudhry said the government has failed to control the inflation adding that his party will provide relief to common people by enabling them to purchase daily commodities at a reasonable price.
“Utility charges and prices of daily commodities have shot up manifold putting extra burden on poor people who earn less than Rs300 a day,” he said.
When asked what the local issues are in their locality, one opposition candidate said, “Issues are numerous but inflation and law and order are worst of them.”
Asif Naseem Abbasi, a candidate for UC-17, Rawal Town, said, “Price hike is a national as well as a local issue and our party has spoken against price hike, we will also highlight it in our gatherings.”
Actually a councillor’s job is to ensure release of development funds on merit, focus on civic issues and resolve local problems, said Sajjad Khan, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate for UC-42 in Rawal Town.
“A councillor can just pave a street, carpet a road, repair a streetlight, construct or repair a basic health unit, improve drainage system and ensure provision of clean drinking water. Controlling energy crisis and reducing inflation is the responsibility of members of provincial and national assemblies,” Khan said.
Muhammad Asghar, a doctor by profession said that unavailability of clean drinking water is one of the major problems and should be given priority rather than price-hike.
Let the federal and provincial governments resolve problems of energy crises and inflation. In LG elections they should focus on civic, health and education issues, Asghar suggested.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2013.
While defining ‘democracy’ dictionaries of all languages cannot do without the word ‘people.’ This effectively means people are to be at the centre of any political activity.
In the garrison town, the opposition parties seem to be missing this subtle but important bit in the run up to local government (LG) elections next month. They apparently are blinded by the glaze of the populist approach of speaking up against ‘price hike’ while ignoring such issues as water, sanitation and street paving.
They may get a hit for that as a survey by The Express Tribune suggests.
With LG elections are around the corner, the opposition parties including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) look set to contest them around issues of price hike and energy crisis.
Conversely most of the citizens are of the view that more pressing issues like water scarcity and sewerage were being ignored in the campaign.
“Hospitals and schools lacking facilities, disposal of solid waste, poor drainage system, unsafe drinking water and dilapidated streets are the problems we are facing but unfortunately most of the contesting candidates are unaware of them,” said Safdar Satti of Satellite Town.
“Currently, price hike is a burning issue throughout the country and protests are being staged against government’s failure to control it,” said JI District Chief Sajjad Abbasi.
JI candidates say they will prioritise this issue in their campaigns as they believe that by controlling prices we can also resolve the rest of the issues. “We will form special price control committees to ensure provision of commodities at a reasonable rate,” said Atif Abbasi, a candidate for union council (UC) No.13 in Rawal Town.
Though there are other issues like education, health and energy crises which will also be highlighted during our campaign, he said.
District president of PTI Sagheer Chaudhry said the government has failed to control the inflation adding that his party will provide relief to common people by enabling them to purchase daily commodities at a reasonable price.
“Utility charges and prices of daily commodities have shot up manifold putting extra burden on poor people who earn less than Rs300 a day,” he said.
When asked what the local issues are in their locality, one opposition candidate said, “Issues are numerous but inflation and law and order are worst of them.”
Asif Naseem Abbasi, a candidate for UC-17, Rawal Town, said, “Price hike is a national as well as a local issue and our party has spoken against price hike, we will also highlight it in our gatherings.”
Actually a councillor’s job is to ensure release of development funds on merit, focus on civic issues and resolve local problems, said Sajjad Khan, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate for UC-42 in Rawal Town.
“A councillor can just pave a street, carpet a road, repair a streetlight, construct or repair a basic health unit, improve drainage system and ensure provision of clean drinking water. Controlling energy crisis and reducing inflation is the responsibility of members of provincial and national assemblies,” Khan said.
Muhammad Asghar, a doctor by profession said that unavailability of clean drinking water is one of the major problems and should be given priority rather than price-hike.
Let the federal and provincial governments resolve problems of energy crises and inflation. In LG elections they should focus on civic, health and education issues, Asghar suggested.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 30th, 2013.