The missing manifestos

The manifestos issued by political parties all over the world ahead of elections usually form the primary platform on the basis of which voters make their balloting decisions. A party manifesto amounts to an agreement with the electorate of what the party will offer and what its policies will be on both internal and external issues. While it is a fact that manifestos are not always adhered to, parties have until now at least gone through the formality of issuing them. For instance, in the 2013 elections, the PML-N based its manifesto around change, the PPP added delivery of health and education to its basic slogan of food, shelter and clothing and the PTI spoke vociferously of a new Pakistan. This time, these manifestos are simply missing. While in most democracies political debate takes place based around the manifestos of the major parties and their content, this time – just a month ahead of the 2018 election – we have no manifesto at all from the major parties. This essentially reflects a situation where political leaders have chosen to make light of their duties in terms of policy and guidance and have instead focused on rivalry with individuals from opposing parties. All three major parties – the PML-N, the PPP and the PTI – say that the manifestos will be made public very soon. Only the five-party MMA alliance has put forward a manifesto based around 12 points which extend from foreign policy to the treatment of Muslim minorities in other countries.

It is obvious then that ideology and the people’s issues have been elbowed aside on our political playing field. Personalities have instead been forced into the forefront. This is damaging in many different ways. Without clear knowledge of what various parties intend to offer and what views they hold on various matters, it is difficult to determine how people can decide which way to cast their vote. The lack of manifestos also contributes to the further depoliticisation of the country and a reduction in the significance of the political parties and their roles. This is obviously not a good omen. We need the parties to tell us clearly and strongly where they stand on various issues including extremism, the economy, relations between institutions and foreign policy so that we can determine what lies ahead and how to vote on the basis of reason and good sense rather than mere emotions or the cult of personalities.