LAHORE: Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi said on Sunday that it is in the interest of all political forces and the country that polls should be held on 8 February.
He expressed these views at the seventh edition of the Afkar Tazah-Think Fest 2024 session titled “Facing the Popular Will: Election 2024” here at Al Hamra, Lahore. Former senator Afrasiab Khattak, renowned journalist Hamid Mir, and a large number of youths were also present.
Responding to queries by the participants, Solangi said that the working class of Pakistan does not have a level playing field. Political instability and economic survival of Pakistan are our real challenges, and we need to improve the economic situation.
He said that in the preamble to the Constitution, it was written that the country would be run by its elected representatives. This country can run only in the presence of the Constitution. It is in the interest of all political forces and parties that the polls should be held on 8 February, and it is for the good of the country.
To a query about the level playing field, he said that everyone was complaining about it. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N also have complaints about it, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman said there is no level playing field in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. Actually, the working class of the country does not have a level playing field unless there is a fundamental change.
Pakistan’s Real Challenges
In response to another query, Solangi said that Pakistan’s political instability and economic survival are our real challenges. The future government may face economic challenges. There is a need to improve the economic situation of the country; if the principal amount of the overall budget goes to foreign debt servicing and other payments, it becomes difficult to run the state.
He said that a quarter of the country’s GDP comes from agriculture, but the tax collection from this area is very low, while the population is increasing rapidly, which is putting extra pressure on sectors like education and health, while we are also facing issues of climate change.
