ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will unveil its manifesto for Feb 8 general elections on Jan 15 or 16 after which the party will formally kick off its count­rywide election campaign.

As per party sources, the PML-N’s manifesto foc­u­ses on tackling incre­asing inflation, economic revival, eradicating unemployment and poverty, amending national acco­untability laws, and enh­a­ncing the local gove­rnment system.

The manifesto will also determine whether caretaker governments are necessary for elections or if the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) alone can handle the responsibility, mirroring practices in neighbouring countries. Some sections of the Charter of Democracy (CoD) may be incorporated into the manifesto.

“Our party’s manifesto will be unveiled by mid of this month on Jan 15 or 16 by the party supremo Nawaz Sharif,” chairman of the PML-N’s manifesto committee Senator Irfan Siddiqui told Dawn on Saturday.

Although forthcoming general elections are approaching fast, none of the mainstream political parties, except Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), has formally announced their election manifesto.

Like PML-N, PPP, PTI and MQM-P are said to be in a process of making their manifestos for the polls.

Senator Siddiqui, said PML-N top leaders under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif will meet on Jan 9 at Lahore in which he will present the draft of the manifesto.

“The party leadership will go through the document and make some changes in it if deemed necessary and then the draft will be sent for printing.”

The PML-N’s manifesto will comprise an assessment of its 2013-2018 tenure and future plans.

To ensure implementation, a suggested council will periodically review and report to the party leadership on promise fulfilment after assuming power.

“Not a single political party has done such a hectic exercise for preparation of their manifestos and that was the reason the party has so far not presented its future plans before the nation,” Mr Siddiqui said when asked why there was delay in preparing the document.

“One of the reasons for the delay is that we are working hard to present a realistic manifesto as Nawaz Sharif has already directed that only those promises should be made with the people which the party can fulfil after coming into power,” he added.

He stated that certain political parties made grand promises during elections, knowing they wouldn’t come to power, and thus, their commitments were unrealistic. The PML-N’s manifesto will consist of two parts: an evaluation of the party’s performance during its 2013-2018 tenure and future plans.

To ensure manifesto implementation, a recommended council will periodically review and report to the party leadership on the fulfilment of promises after assuming power.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2024