The three biggest political parties, the PML-N, PPP, and PTI, have failed to pay attention to and work towards 18 of the biggest problems faced by the country.
The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) conducted a detailed analysis of the manifestos of the three major parties. It stressed that these parties could not even get passing marks for solving 18 major issues of the country, as their manifestos mention solutions to only 20% of the problems.
It further said that the PPP scored zero on this scale, while the PTI does not have solutions to the problems of 13 sectors, and even the PML-N did not have a plan to solve problems in 12 sectors.
The PIDE report said the manifestos of these parties contain solutions to only 20% problems of the country. Out of these, the PML-N has solutions to 12% of the problems, PPP 7% and the PTI only 1.5%.
The report reviewed the policies related to 18 sectors in the manifestos of these three political parties. These sectors included local government, parliament, elections, cabinet, the police department, bureaucracy, development funds, real estate, agriculture, energy, taxation, trade, debt management, tariffs, government-owned enterprises, and internet provision.
The research institute has advised the political parties to make the plan for solutions to the problems part of their manifestos. It suggested they emphasise more on discussions on policy issues instead of political animosity and mudslinging.
The institute also recommends using social media platforms such as X to discuss policies. The report said that in 2022, the number of X users in Pakistan was 3.4 million.
“Whichever political party came to power did not have a plan for sustainable development,” the PIDE said, adding that the absence of a plan in the manifesto promotes ad hocism and vested interests.
No practical steps were taken to strengthen local governments, and the political parties also failed to implement election slogans, the report suggested.
The parties also neglected sectors such as unemployment, education, health, governance, corruption, security, and human rights.
It further said that the PPP and PML-N focused more on hereditary politics and other political disputes.
