QUETTA, Sept 7: The strengthening of lower-level branches of political parties is imperative for enabling the parties to effectively play their role in resolving people’s problems at the local level.

This was stated by the participants of a one-day training workshop, organized by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs here on Wednesday.

Leaders and workers of different political parties — including the Balochistan National Party (Mengal), People’s Party Parliamentarians, National Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Pushtoonkhwah Mill Awami Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) — attended the workshop.

The participants agreed that the political parties should establish contact with the people at local level on regular basis to ascertain their problems. They discussed various aspects of effective functioning of political parties at local level, including strategies to develop party structure and increase membership to improve local governance.