Jang Economic Session: Speakers seek democracy within political parties

LAHORE: The political parties should establish democracy in their set-ups and jointly evolve an economic policy to resolve the economic issues of Pakistan.

These views were expressed by the experts in Jang Economic Session on “National Issues and Public - Performance of Political Parties.” The discussants were Qayuam Nizami, Dr Salahuddin Ayubi, Muhammad Ali Mian and Azeem Ahmed Bari while the session was moderated by Sikandar Lodhi.

Qayuam Nizami said the public welfare work was always been ignored by the political parties despite having mandate for that. Establishing democracy in political parties is crucial, he said. It seems 200 families are controlling politics and economy in Pakistan, he added.

He suggested the teaching Quiad-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal be followed to make the country example. Changing of the dead system is required to change the fate of nation, he said. He stressed the need for focusing on agro-industrial revolution for overall growth of the country along with improving the education system for which all political parties should join and make policies with consensus. Dr Salahudin Ayubi said economic situation directly impacted the masses. The beauty of politics lies in democracy through which basic rights, including employment to people, were ensured. He said unemployment was a major issue in the country which adversely affected almost half of the population of the country.

He urged using quality human resource to end illiteracy and unemployment to stabilise the economy. Charter of economy is unavoidable for economic and social issues of the country, he said. Muhammad Ali Mian said political parties played a vital role in a country’s growth so the political parties in Pakistan should change their priorities. He said the PMLN was an old party but was not running with objectivity to benefit the country. He said the performance of the PPP and PTI had been also exposed to the public. He said economic balance sheet of Pakistan was not discouraging from the country which emerged along with it but the dream of actual growth is incomplete. He said the political parties never took professional experts on board so no agro industrial policies were presented. He stressed on a long-term road map for the growth of industry and agriculture.

Azeem Ahmed Bari said inflation adversely affected the majority of Pakistanis while the country passing through a massive economic crisis. The lives of salaried class have become miserable due to the ever-increasing prices of essential commodities and utilities. It is the need of hour that all political parties sat together and chalked out a way out from the economic crisis. He said the political parties should not only indentify the issues but also evolve effective planning to resolve them.