AS the Government is about to complete its term and the general election is round the corner, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made an impassioned appeal to the masses to keep the four-year performance of the PTI in mind while casting their votes. Speaking at two separate ceremonies in Sialkot and Lahore on Sunday to distribute laptops among talented students and loan among the youth, he referred to BRT Peshawar, Malam Jabba, sugar, Toshakhana wrist-watches and Ql-Qadir Trust scams to emphasize that such corruption scandals did not surface during tenure of PML(N).
Pakistan is plagued with a number of problems and challenges which would continue to haunt the nation until and unless people make their choices in the election on the basis of performance. It is unfortunate that instead of focusing on resolution of the problems confronting Pakistan and its people, some parties lay emphasis on narratives that have no direct bearing on the lives of the citizens. It is because of this that benefits of power go to a close circle and well-connected lot and not to the common man, whose life has become miserable because of back-breaking inflation, unemployment, poverty, unbearable electricity and gas tariff, absence of basic infrastructure/civic amenities, ignorance and disease. This is despite the fact that the country has been bestowed with immense resources and potential to make progress. No doubt, PML(N) has a distinction of launching policies and implementing programmes aimed at resolving problems of the people and improving the standard of their living. Its focus on motorways, highways, roads, bridges, airports and seaports not only created enormous employment opportunities but also accelerated the pace of socio-economic development in the length and breadth of the country. Similarly, the country faced crippling shortage of electricity and gas for years as successive governments initiated almost no plan to generate more power or take measures to ensure availability of gas. Credit surely goes to PML(N) for expeditious implementation of a number of power projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and import of gas from Qatar as part of the policy to ensure energy security. The last one year was crisis-ridden but despite all this, the PML(N)-led government has revived CPEC and initiated a number of energy projects in nuclear, solar and wind power areas. Similarly, the Prime Minister took personal interest to re-energize laptop and scholarship schemes that are seen as an important opportunity for students hailing from backward areas and poor families to realize their dreams of acquiring educational knowledge and skills of their choice. Despite all this, the performance of the incumbent government is not as satisfactory as it should have been in the eyes of the layman because of the highly volatile situation during the last one year. The political parties should, therefore, focus on their election manifestos and seek votes on the basis of what they intend to do to take Pakistan out of the woods and provide relief to the masses.
