<\/p>\n
With less than two weeks to go until the February 8 general elections, electioneering picked up steam in the country on Sunday as major political parties staged rallies to try and woo voters.<\/p>\n
While the PML-N and the PPP held large gatherings in the country, the PTI\u2019s rallies were thwarted by police<\/a>.<\/p>\n PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif emphasised the need to question those responsible for \u201cinjustices\u201d against the people. Speaking at a rally in Sialkot, Nawaz expressed regret over the current state of Pakistan, noting that the country he had left behind in 2017 no longer existed, and the employment promised for the youth had not materialised.<\/p>\n He pledged to support the country\u2019s youth, asserting that the PML-N would create job opportunities and provide educational tools to them. He also highlighted the drastic increase in petrol prices, saying they had surged from Rs65 per litre to over Rs260 since he left office.<\/p>\n Speaking at the same rally, ex-premier Shehbaz Sharif expressed confidence that the public would choose Nawaz based on his past accomplishments. He also highlighted Nawaz\u2019s role in making the country a nuclear power.<\/p>\n Shehbaz pledged to establish an IT city in Sialkot if the PML-N was voted to power, emphasising the party\u2019s commitment to providing skilled education to the youth. He further promised that, if elected, the PML-N under Nawaz\u2019s leadership would tirelessly serve the masses day and night.<\/p>\n PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz assured that every commitment made by Nawaz to the public would be honored.<\/p>\n Encouraging the public to exercise their right to vote carefully, she said, \u201cYour future lies in securing respectable employment, not in petrol bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n Maryam further urged PML-N supporters not to stay home on Feb 8 and instead cast their votes for the PML-N.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, ex-president Asif Zardari said only genuine political forces knew how to address the issues the country was facing.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly genuine political forces have solutions to the problems of the country. Not the political forces created by them or even the force they are trying to create now,\u201d he told a rally in Balochistan\u2019s Hub, without elaborating further.<\/p>\n He added that Balochistan was deprived of development projects despite an increase in its budget four times since the 18th Amendment was passed. \u201cI cannot see the budget being spent anywhere,\u201d Zardari said.<\/p>\n He asserted that the people of Hub also deserved colleges, hospitals, and universities.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a big task. Karachi\u2019s investors will do this if law and order can be fixed. I only request the people here to guide those innocent people and kids who take up arms against the state,\u201d Zardari added.<\/p>\n He urged the people of Balochistan to tread the path of democracy instead of taking up arms against the state.<\/p>\n Zardari told the rally that the PPP never picked up arms despite the challenges it had faced. \u201cInstead, we protested on the streets in the form of rallies and are still fighting for democracy,\u201d he said, promising to give the Baloch their due rights.<\/p>\n PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari affirmed that his party was committed to combatting \u201call terrorists\u201d.<\/p>\n Addressing a rally in Rawalpindi\u2019s Liaquat Bagh, the former foreign minister said: \u201cThere will be no good or bad Taliban. We will fight all terrorists. We can only forgive those who abide by the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that any group resorting to taking up weapons against the state would receive a befitting response.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is crucial to address the issue of terrorism promptly. Pakistan has a tendency to make excuses until terrorism reaches its peak and endangers our children. Only then do we engage in the fight against terrorists,\u201d Bilawal said.<\/p>\n He was of the view that only the PPP could rid the country of the economic, democratic, and social crises it was embroiled in. \u201cWe took Benazir\u2019s ideology forward and presented our manifesto based on the principles of fighting poverty and unemployment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Bilawal also vowed to bury the concept of revenge politics and form a \u201ctruth and reconciliation commission\u201d after coming into power.<\/p>\n Towards the end of his address, he urged the people to vote for the \u201carrow\u201d and said that PPP was the only political party that could take all stakeholders forward.<\/p>\n Separately, PTI\u2019s Barrister Gohar Khan unveiled the party\u2019s election manifesto which promised social and constitutional reforms.<\/p>\n Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Gohar said PTI\u2019s manifesto was titled \u2018Shandaar Pakistan, Shandaar Mustaqbil aur Kharaab Maazi sey chutkara\u2019<\/em>. He said that the party leaders who compiled the document were unable to be present for the press conference over fears of being arrested.<\/p>\n Talking about the manifesto, the PTI leader promised to form a truth and reconciliation commission to address the injustices faced by the common man.<\/p>\n He said that the party had always emphasised that the rule of law should prevail in the country and every citizen should be treated equally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot have two laws, one for the rich and one for the poor,\u201d he added. \u201cAs a barrister, I would say that rule of law is fundamental for every country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said that another section of the manifesto focused on modelling the country after \u2018Riyasat-i-Madina\u2019 (State of Madina). He said that some criminal and civil laws in the country were either too lengthy or too complicated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Code of Criminal Procedure will be reformed so that the people are protected,\u201d he said, adding that the party did not want the poor to suffer at the hands of outdated laws.<\/p>\n He further said that the party would introduce constitutional reforms.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reforms would be that the prime minister will directly be selected by the people,\u201d Barrister Gohar said. \u201cWe will decrease the National Assembly\u2019s tenure to four years, bring the Senate tenure to five years and will directly elect 50 per cent of Senators,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Commenting on the economy, Gohar promised to reform the tax scheme and also increase the tax bracket. He further said that farmers would be provided a subsidy to help them stand on their feet.<\/p>\n He also talked about the implementation of solar energy projects on a large scale and said the party would also introduce a universal health card. He further said the party was committed to bringing educational reforms and introducing a singular education system throughout the country.<\/p>\n He said that the manifesto also had a section which provided a detailed account of the values that should be taught to the youth which could help them prosper.<\/p>\n \u201cThe values of the youth, their education and participation in politics. We have kept a lot of incentives for them,\u201d Gohar said.<\/p>\n He went on to say that if his party came into power, it would also provide social security for citizens.<\/p>\n Gohar emphasised it was necessary to get rid of corruption and promised that the party would introduce an initiative that would keep a tougher eye on the issue.<\/p>\n Talking about foreign policy, the PTI leader said Pakistan needed to have a relationship based on equality with all countries.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first principle is that no one can interfere with Pakistan\u2019s internal affairs,\u201d Gohar said. \u201cWe have adopted a policy regarding it and will move accordingly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With less than two weeks to go until the February 8 general elections, electioneering picked up steam in the country on Sunday as major political parties staged rallies to try and woo voters. While the PML-N and the PPP held large gatherings in the country, the PTI\u2019s rallies were thwarted by police. Nawaz promises employment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/28194550fbdf95f.png?r=194638","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Nawaz promises employment for country\u2019s youth<\/h2>\n
Zardari says only \u2018genuine political forces\u2019 can solve country\u2019s issues<\/h2>\n
Bilawal says PPP to rid country of economic crisis after coming to power<\/h2>\n
PTI unveils manifesto<\/h2>\n