Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has been forever lamenting the media does not take them seriously and yesterday they had more reason to feel neglected The apparently painstaking effort put into their manifesto, with scores of policy papers having been published beforehand, was put aside by the mainstream media, who focused instead on the manifesto’s most simplistic assertion: to make the governor houses into libraries and playgrounds.
The interesting facet to this media focus is that Shahbaz Sharif had also vowed to implement this policy but five years on the houses remain and this is the point that caught the eye of the television analysts the most.
In all fairness, manifestos might be interesting fodder for scholars and academics but the nitty gritty of these policy promises is hardly likely to keep viewers glued to their television screens.
Bombastic statements such as bulldozing the walls of the elite hideaways are prone to stir the imaginations of the masses and paint a more tangible picture. For example, the emphasis on computerizing land records to break the dependence on Patwaris , while being an admirable notion, is not a very easy idea for the small landowner, the major beneficiary of the measure, to get a grip on. He will probably be at pains to understand how a computer will solve their problems, especially since the machines which are now essential to business in the cities, are alien to the peasants in Pakistan.
Two interesting aspects to the manifesto are issues not generally discussed in the popular discourse in Pakistan. Firstly, the summary on the environmental policy states that “PTI will follow a policy of ‘Value Nature to Preserve Nature’, including a yearly Green National Budget’. PTI seeks to transform Pakistan from the ‘Most Vulnerable to the Most Adaptive’ country in the world in terms of coping with natural disasters”. The author of this policy is Malik Amin Aslam, who has a degree in Environmental Policy from Oxford University, so on paper the credentials regarding this policy seem strong.
Secondly, PTI has also promised to “reassert the primacy of indigenous art and culture with its rich diversity. We have to reclaim our cultural space as part of our reassertion of our multidimensional Pakistani identity and our soft power projection globally.” If the policy succeeds something similar to the projection of “Incredible India” would be quite beneficial to the Pakistani economy and society, since the country does indeed have quite a magnificent cultural and topographic diversity and beauty
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