It has something for everyone, but is it doable?
The PTI was the first to come up with its manifesto, albeit in installments. The PML-N has now followed suit. Days before Benazir Bhutto’s fifth death anniversary, the Sindh chief minister had said that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto would unveil the PPP manifesto in his first-ever public address at Garhi Khuda Bux on Dec 27. This did not happen. And when shall the party make a formal announcement remains anybody’s guess.
The lengthy PML-N manifesto has something for everyone. It would be nothing short of a Houdini’s act to reconcile the competing demands between butter and guns. Pakistan badly needs to enhance the meager allocations for education, presently on the fringes of two per cent of GDP – more so in view of the constitutional amendment ensuring the right of education to every child. The PML-N has promised to declare National Education Emergency to eradicate illiteracy on war footing, transforming the country’s educational sector into a world class system. In the health sector, the party wants to introduce a new national health insurance card scheme for the free treatment of children, senior citizens and low income group families. Leaving aside other ambitious schemes in housing and food for all, the expenditure on education and health alone will have to be raised many times over if the election vows are to be retrieved. How the government will reconcile this with the promise to the military that all its needs and requirements will be met under all circumstances and the highly unrealistic proposition to increase and improve the strategic assets to ensure strategic parity in the region? While trying to please all, the PML-N could end up displeasing everyone.
The proposals in the manifesto regarding turning round the energy sector raise questions about their viability. While merging the ministries of water and power and petroleum and natural resources would pose no problem, investing $20 billion to generate 10,000MW of electricity in the next five years would. The party also wants to develop the Thar coalfields by setting up of at least 5,000MW of new coal-fired power plants under the IPP model and also developing alternative sources of energy. With the strong land-holding lobby adamantly opposing any tax on agricultural incomes and the business community unwilling as ever to pay taxes, where will all the investment needed for development of the energy sector come from? How will the party retrieve the vow to revive the economy, double the GDP growth to over six percent of GDP when simultaneously wishing to decrease the tax rates?
The promise to celebrate a National Day for Minorities is likely to be seen by them as a lollipop. How is the PML-N) going to resolve the principle complaint of the minorities regarding the misuse of laws enacted by Zia which continue to be on the statute book? The manifesto has no word on how to deal with the expanding wave of extremism in the country, particularly attacks on the Shia community and the harassment of Ahmedis. Bringing FATA and PATA into the mainstream and providing the tribal agencies with facilities is not going to stop the terrorist attacks either.
