KARACHI: The coming general elections should be ideally held on the basis of recent population census after adjusting constituencies as per modified demography, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Saturday.
He said not notifying the results of recent population and housing census is a big dishonesty of the sitting government. He said it is the right of citizens to know the results of the census. He said why billions of the rupees from taxpayers’ money were spent on this census exercise when the rulers have no moral courage to notify its results. He said the sitting PDM coalition government simply disappointed the citizens of Pakistan with its timidity and dishonesty regarding timely notifying of the census results.
He said the census results could not be kept hidden due to the pressure of a handful of political parties in Karachi. He said no political parties of just one city should be allowed to hijack the rights of all other cities and towns of Pakistan. He said powers should belong to the people and not just few political personalities.
He said Pakistan is not an ancestral estate of political elite and family-bases parties. He said this is not a kingdom that a son or daughter should inherit whole political parties. He asked are the political workers of Pakistan slaves or robots?
He said internal elections of major political parties in Pakistan are just fraud and eyewash. It is a slavish mindset and not enlightened political tradition. He said we need real political reforms. Smaller political parties should be allowed to join the electoral process by reducing very high fees.
He said proportionate electoral system should be adopted in Pakistan to break the monopoly of professional political elite. He said new provinces should be established on administrative basis to check growing ethinic political parties. He said the people of Pakistan saw the ethinic politics in Karachi during the recent local bodies’ elections in Karachi, wrapped in disguising slogan of “rights for Karachi”. He said this deadly poison which had already resulted in separation of the East Pakistan. He said every patriotic Pakistani should discourage this deadly trend of the revival of ethnic politics in Karachi. He said we can’t afford division of the megacity Karachi on ethinic lines.
He said budget should be spent on the welfare of people and not to foot the lavish expenses of ruling politicians and princely bureaucracy. He said how the politicians who travel in private airplanes could serve the downtrodden masses? The people should reject these viceroys and elect real representatives of the poor people. He said anger is simmering in the poor people of Pakistan who face the worst food inflation of the history.
He said our institutions should take preempt steps to give some breathing space to these angry and disappointed poor masses before they take to streets and destroy everything.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023