KARACHI: Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor said foreign loans are a curse for Pakistan. We pay almost all we earn on paying these loans and their interests.
No, we have to get more loans to just pay the interest on old loans. This is economic slavery and the new national assembly should focus on its energies to devise ways and means to break this killer debt trap.
He said we have vast barren lands, ample rivers and seawater and plenty of sunshine. We can make our country a grain basket of the world by constructing new dams, desalination of seawater for coastal agriculture uses and make barren lands cultivable by using the latest methods.
He said all these things are doable. China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and even Afghanistan are working on it and there is no reason why we shouldnt utilize these techniques.
He said sadly our country is facing internal and external terrorism. Our borders are unsafe and the enemy is making inroads in Balochistan and tribal areas easily.
We must devise zero tolerance to all this menace and the national assembly is the proper forum to introduce constitutional amendments as well as new strict laws and rules to fight terrorists and separatists successfully.
Showing his dismay over the highly polarized national assembly, Altaf Shakoor has asked if our Majlis-e-Shoora or national assembly really national, prioritizing the collective national interests over the vested interests of politicians.
He said the national assembly has already sworn in and the process of election of its custodians is under way, but the nation doesnt see the custodians of its larger interests anywhere. He said a highly divided and hung parliament would not likely survive for long and within a year or two the nation may see re-polls.
He said elections are a costly process needing tens of billions of rupees and the question is if this huge amount of money is worth spending on an exercise that even doesnt guarantee a functional national assembly.
He said, The western parliamentary democracy is not the answer to all our issues. We face peculiar problems which need specific home grown solutions. The presence of all institutions in running the affairs of the country would be one of the ways that can give birth to a stable and more functional national assembly. Proportional electoral votes are the answer to the polls rigging and giving a space to smaller parties to serve the nation and country.
He said a body like SIFC should be formed to oversee political affairs and ensure the running of democracy smoothly in our country.
Constitutional amendments are needed to allocate separate funding for our mega cities, as well as, creating new federating units on administrative grounds so that not one province has too much say in running the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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