Tall claims or astute plans? Big promises made by political parties in their election manifestos

With just two days to go for the February 8 general elections, mainstream political parties have finally unveiled their rather ambitious election manifestos — a list of mostly empty promises. An election manifesto is a list of policies that a political party vows to enact if it is voted into office. To put it simply, in the five-year marriage of the ‘hukamraan’ and the ‘awaam’, manifestos are the wedding vows. If crafted smartly, they can bridge the gap between political parties and voters, particularly young ones who comprise over 45 per cent of the total registered voters in the country. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, election manifestos have become more of a strict ritual than a meaningful exercise.
According to Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (Pildat) President Ahmed Bilal Mehmood, political parties feel that a large segment of voters do not bother much about reading election manifestos to make up their mind on voting or not voting for a party.
“They may have been right until a few elections ago when a growing middle class, the rise of social media and the youth bulge in the voters’ list started changing poll dynamics. At least an emerging class of voters is no longer content with the traditional politics of slogans, tall promises, opponent-bashing and communicating with voters on issues only during elections. Voters demand greater engagement,” he writes in an op-ed for Dawn. It is not surprising that major political parties including the PML-N, PPP and PTI only recently unveiled their manifesto, a few days before the elections. And, as usual, they lack an action plan.
Therefore, before you pronounce ‘I do’ on Feb 8, Dawn.com takes a look at and analyses the plausibility of some of the ‘will dos’ and ‘won’t dos’ promised.
Source: dawn.com