LAHORE: With elections just round the corner, the PML-N on Wednesday unveiled an online portal to seek inputs from Pakistani nationals at home and abroad by Jan 5 for its upcoming manifesto, likely to be launched in the second week of next month.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif underscored the participation of people in this endeavour and said the former ruling party aimed to enter elections “with a mission to identify Pakistan’s main issues across various sectors and propose implementable solutions”.

“We extend an invitation to you, the people of Pakistan, to help us achieve this objective. Visit ‘pmln2024.com’ now and be an integral part of shaping a meaningful manifesto that propels Pakistan forward,” the PML-N president said on the occasion.

PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz tweeted, “PML-N’s unbreakable bond with the people is its greatest strength! We are excited to take this cornerstone of our politics into the digital age with an online portal that empowers every Pakistani, resident and overseas, to directly contribute to writing PML-N’s election manifesto 2024.”

Online portal covers economy, education, health, foreign affairs

PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal asked professionals, experts, diaspora, and ordinary citizens to contribute their invaluable suggestions for the party manifesto. “The interactive portal covers an extensive range of 32 themes, including economy, energy, education, health, sports, foreign affairs, agriculture, and women empowerment,” he said, adding that contributors could share their recommendations to promote an inclusive approach that encompassed the entire socio-economic strata.

The PML-N last month had formed over 30 different sub-committees for the preparation of the party’s election manifesto. The launch of the online portal in this regard also puts a question mark on the ability of the manifesto committees’ chief Senator Irfan Siddiqui to prepare the document.

Mr Siddiqui was supposed to finalise the manifesto in coordination with these sub-committees. “It seems these committees could not properly work and coordinate with him to draft a good piece of manifesto which the party supremo was expecting,” said a party source. Asked why the PML-N felt the need to seek suggestions from the public for its manifesto, Ahsan Iqbal said the exercise was being done to have a “more inclusive manifesto”.

Earlier this month, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, who heads the PML-N’s manifesto committee, told Dawn that different committees of the party were giving their input in the making of the PML-N’s election manifesto regarding agriculture, health, economy, education, climate change and social uplift of the people.

Mr Siddiqui said he had tasked PML-N leaders Musadik Malik and Marriyum Aurangzeb to keep in touch with the party’s committees to finalise the draft manifesto.

“We will present the draft soon to the party supremo Nawaz Sharif and will get feedback before finalising the document,” he had said.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif urged the party ticket aspirants to put up hard work to make the party supremo Nawaz Sharif prime minister for the fourth time so that he could start the development work from where it left off.

Addressing the party ticket aspirants from the Lahore division at Model Town, Shehbaz Sharif thanked the party men for not leaving Nawaz at the ‘testing times.’ “Elections are going to take place on Feb 8 and you need to pull up your socks to get Nawaz Sharif elected prime minister for the fourth time to get the country economically strong,” he asked the participants. Mr Nawaz was sitting beside him.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2023