EDITORIAL

Vote for Manifesto

What is the Manifesto of a political party? A manifesto is a published declaration of the issuer’s intentions, motives, or views, be it an individual, group, political party or government. The manifestos of political parties are those plans, programmes and general policy directions of a political party where they commit to implementing them to get the votes to get into power during general elections.

The manifestos are released during the election year in Pakistan. It is a benchmark document that would eventually provide a basis for evaluating the party’s performance in the government. The electorates in democratic politics inherently expect a political party to present its Manifesto to the people because they would like to look at the future programmes and policies the party plans to implement if it is voted into power. People need to look into a formal plan and commitment through which they can look for voting and which is not rhetoric but based on a legal responsibility that a manifesto can bring. The way it is articulated by a manifesto committee of a political party and presented as a formal document would grant it the status of a party document that the party explains as its elections pledges.https://republicpolicy.com/2023-is-election-year-lets-interrogate-party-manifestos/

The manifestos are influential in the following ways:

• It specifies the ideological direction of the political party.
• It helps to educate people about service deliverance and commitment to addressing public issues if voted into power.
• It is a measurement instrument to evaluate the performance of a political party. Furthermore, it envisages the national and international vision of a political party.
• It facilitates party members regarding the agenda directions, policies and programmes.
• It helps to attract people to the party to vote in general elections.
• It dictates the aims, purposes and objectives of the party.
• It promotes a programme-specific relationship between parties and their constituents/electorates and discourages personality-oriented bonds between the political parties and voters.
• Lastly, it is a tool of political accountability. The fundamental purpose is to evaluate the performance of the political party in the next elections.

The parliamentary term of 2018 to 2023 is unique in the history of Pakitan. The term saw the ousting of the PTI government through a vote of no-confidence and bringing the PDM government. Hence, almost all the political parties enjoyed the government in the term. Therefore, all political parties should be assessed and reevaluated on the manifestos.

PTI, PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, MQM, GDA and other political parties issued robust Manifestos in English and Urdu. However, the respective political parties and their leader should have discussed their manifestos in the election campaign in 2018. The parties and leaders alike talk generically on the manifestos. As the term is going to complete and elections are on the corner, it is essential to remind all political parties and their leaders about the achievement of their manifestos. People must discuss the performance evaluation of election manifestos and evaluate the performance of all political parties in government or opposition.https://republicpolicy.com/politics-of-narratives-or-good-governance/ 

Creating awareness among the masses is critical for the democratic development of democracy in Pakistan. Therefore, the team Republic Policy is starting an initiative to inform people about the significance of manifesto politics. Hence, it is the best tool in democracy to evaluate the performance of a political party. Team RP shall continue to write on the issue and dissect all the political parties in terms of their manifestos and present performances. We hope people stay connected with republicpolicy.com to ensure that performance-based voting becomes the political norm in our electioneering. Hence, it is critical for democracy, participation, good governance and service delivery.