With empowered district govts as main objective, MQM-P unveils its manifesto

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Thursday unveiled its manifesto for the upcoming general elections with the setting up of empowered district governments through constitutional amendments as the cornerstone of its agenda for governance after coming into power.

The manifesto was unveiled by MQM-P Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at a press conference, which was also attended by other top leaders of the party.

The other important feature of the MQM’s election manifesto stands for utilising the talent and skills of 65 per cent Pakistani youth population to earn up to $100 billion in foreign exchange for the country so that Pakistan is no longer dependent on exploitative loans obtained from the IMF and the World Bank.

The manifesto also stands for launching an income generation programme for reviving the prestige of the poorest of the poor section in society on the lines of the microfinance loan initiative of the non-profit Akhuwat Foundation. The income generation programme will be launched in place of Benazir Income Support Programme of the federal government.

The MQM also aims to impose an emergency in the educational and health sectors for the next five to 10 years.

The party has the intention to provide milk to school-going students to tackle the issue of stunted growth and also one-time meals to mothers of the enrolled children.

The manifesto also envisages setting up new industrial zones in cities to generate employment opportunities for the jobless masses. It envisions the commissioning of the K-IV bulk water supply project and the building of the Karachi Circular Railway project to fulfil the water and mass transportation needs of the people.

The election manifesto calls for establishing a judicial system to prevent the misuse of the government job quota system in Sindh. It also calls for tackling the issue of forged certificates of domiciles used for unlawfully obtaining government jobs.

Speaking at the press conference, the MQM chief said the election manifesto of his party presented a plan to devolve powers to the deprived Pakistanis at their doorsteps. He lamented that Pakistan had been badly suffering due to severe instability in the administrative, social, governance, political, and judicial spheres of the state.

Siddiqui demanded that some new constitutional amendments should be introduced so that every Pakistani could become a respectable citizen of the state with equal rights and social status.

He opined that the powers of the local governments should be explicitly written in the constitution much like the roles of the prime minister and chief ministers clearly defined in the Constitution of 1973.

He claimed that the new election manifesto of the MQM stood for transforming the destiny of the underprivileged citizens of Pakistan. He said the proposed 26th Amendment should be incorporated into the Constitution of 1973 to formalise the concept of devolution of powers to the local governments.

He said the MQM-Pakistan after coming into power would ensure the development and progress of Karachi to ensure the prosperity of the entire country.

MQM-P’s Senior Deputy Convener Syed Mustafa Kamal, said the election manifesto of his party fully reflected the aspirations of the deprived sections of the Pakistani population.

He said deprivation of the neglected sections of society couldn’t be lessened despite the transfer of billions of rupees every year to the provincial governments by the centre. He said that provincial governments should be held accountable for spending the massive share of the national exchequer transferred to them under the National Finance Commission Award.

He said the manifesto stood for devolution of powers to the provincial governments and then to municipal agencies to empower them to serve the masses in the best possible manner.

MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar said the election manifesto was prepared to empower the less-privileged sections of Pakistani society by fulfilling all their rights enshrined in the constitution.