Elections 2018

After listening to a lot of analysts, it looks like the largest political party in the country is about to either break or be broken, whichever way one may choose to look at it. This will no doubt make a lot of people happy. It would have been good, if the people who voted various parties into the assemblies in the last elections had the chance to give those same parties their verdict at the next election as and when it takes place. But the party that got the largest number of votes and seats in parliament may no longer exist in anything like its present shape at the next election. A lot of people surely hope for that.

Never mind the fact that recent judicio-political developments already mean that Pakistan’s proud track record of no elected leader having completed full term in office remains at one hundred percent. But should the likes and dislikes of a small number of people be enough to override the choices made by Pakistan’s voters, whatever anyone may think of their choices? One can only hope that the day will come when the country’s voters truly become the arbiters of who really governs them.

Sher Ali Khan (Mardan)

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The federal government and the National Assembly seem to have entered an era of impasse from which we need to extricate ourselves at the earliest. Issues of governance and foreign policy are being handled on ad hoc basis with more focus on deliberations as to what will be the impact on the general electorate (especially that of Punjab) from the ‘accountability process’ currently underway against the former ruling family.

In my opinion, there may be no clear winner in case early elections are announced as demanded by Imran Khan. If that happens, we can very well see a ‘hung parliament’ next year with the PML-N still having the largest number of seats in the NA, followed by the PTI. Fresh elections may result in all three major parties emerging stronger in some ways and weaker in other areas. My key proposal to shareholders is that they should kindly restrict the new government’s tenure to four years to ensure better performance. The minimum agenda the new government would likely pursue is ‘political reconciliation, economic growth and stabilization, fast-track implementation of CPEC and NAP programmes, Fata’s merger with KP and ensuring ‘transparent, impartial accountability.’ Pakistan needs to cruise full-speed ahead given that our arch-rival is experimenting with reforms and modernity at a savage pace.

Abbas R Siddiqi (Lahore)