PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Thursday urged the people of Pakistan to give him a chance to serve them instead of electing a person as the premier for the fourth time. On the other hand, PMLN leader Mian Nawaz Sharif, in an attempt to woo voters once again, cited mega projects launched in the country during his previous tenures. He said if his policies would have been permitted to continue, the country would have made a lot of progress till now.
The PPP leader is fully entitled to his views and it is for the people of Pakistan to make a choice on the occasion of the coming general election but it is not the healthy criteria to vote on the basis of tried and untried ones. It is the performance that matters for people and almost all parties remained in power both at the Federal and Provincial levels in one form or the other. PPP had its own Prime Minister and the President for five years and it ruled Sindh for many years. Bilawal has legitimately taken credit for decisions like renaming of the formerly known NWFP as KP and empowering Parliament. The PPP surely has to its credit sacrifices for the cause of democracy and constitutionalism, working for the welfare of the workers and civil servants by way of increasing their salaries significantly and launching a worthwhile poverty alleviation programme. However, its performance in Sindh has not been enviable and it cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for measures undertaken during tenure of the coalition government that have exacerbated difficulties of the people. PML(N) performed well in its previous tenure but the coalition experience left bitter memories for the people. PTI too could not serve the people in a convincing manner during its tenure. The main parties should, therefore, come out with tangible plans to spark confidence among the people about their ability to take the country out of the woods.
