Source: The News International

Editorial

Over the past week, the pace of campaigning across the country has picked up slightly, with a daily barrage of statements and counter-statements issued by contestants and party leaders. But what is significant is that the vast majority of these comments are negative and consist of vicious, sometimes underhand, attacks on opponents. The former ruling party, the PML-Q, has pioneered the way for this style of politics. The comments by ex-Punjab chief executive Pervaiz Elahi regarding Benazir Bhutto have been childish and distasteful, all the more so since she cannot answer back in her defence. The PML-N too has not been spared, with some allegations venturing into the realm of fantasy. Blaming the party for the breakup of Pakistan after all sounds absurd, since the career of Mian Nawaz Sharif did not begin till over a decade after the sad events of 1971.

PPP and PML-N candidates too have answered back in a similar tone, and some of the language used by candidates on the campaign trail has been crude, verging on the abusive. Insinuations regarding patriotism and the question of ethnicity have added to the unpleasant, and potentially dangerous, tenor of the election drive. What this suggests is that none of the parties have viable solutions to offer people or strategies that can help overcome the rising inflation and the energy shortfall affecting the lives of everyone. After all, it is answers to the grave concerns over these issues that voters are seeking from their political leaders. As such, they must focus on providing a direction for the future and on building hope and optimism, rather than contributing to the spread of hatred. Lashing out at opponents on the basis of their perceived or imagined personal weaknesses serves no positive purpose at all and conveys only the message that other than such bitter diatribes, political parties and their leaders have nothing to offer the people of Pakistan.

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Tags: Benazir, Elections, Nawaz, Pervaiz Elahi