PRESIDENT Arif Alvi on Friday urged political parties to pause their political activities owing to the devastating floods, saying any narrative that created divisions within national institutions was not in the national interest.
During an interaction with newsmen, he reiterated that no institution, including the judiciary and the army, should be used for political point-scoring as such comments were not in the greater national interest.
The impassioned appeal of the President reflects aspirations of the people, who have become weary of the political wrangling among different players with negative consequences for the country and its economy.
Political rhetoric is also injuring feelings of the rain and flood affected people as such statements and activities shift the focus away from the miseries of the people and the need to reach out to them for instant rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
There is no reason why any party would not agree to the desire of the President as all of them claim to be firm believers in the welfare of the masses.
Divergence in political thinking is nothing unusual but differences are sorted out through dialogue and these are put on the back-burner in case of extraordinary national situations as we are facing these days.
Apart from the situation arising out of floods, the economy is also not out of the woods despite the resumption of the package by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, therefore, they need to sit on the negotiating table to finalize a consensus-based economic charter as has been emphasized by the President as well.
We hope the President would not leave his proposal at that and take necessary initiatives to help realize this cherished objective.
