ISLAMABAD: The Awam Pakistan Party, scheduled for launch on July 6 in Islamabad, plans to focus on the economic prosperity of people by extending tax concessions to middle-income and salaried classes and bringing down annual government expenditure, a top party official announced Sunday.
Miftah Ismail, one of the founding members of the party who previously served as finance minister, said that people from all four provinces had already started joining the party.
More than 175 political factions have been registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan, though only 13 of them managed to get their members elected to the National Assembly in the wake of the last general elections held on February 8.
The leading political parties in the country pivot around a central leader who is viewed as charismatic by its followers and play a vital role in getting the popular vote.
Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and ex-finance minister Ismail, the driving forces behind the new party, aim to encourage public participation in governance and address the country’s fragile economy through reforms and the privatization of public entities.
“One of our major purposes behind forming the new political party is to struggle for the uplift of poor people through their active participation in politics, governance and economy,” Ismail told Arab News in a conversation over the phone.
“We have to extend tax concessions to middle-income and salaried classes, focus on privatization, limit the government’s footprint by encouraging the private sector and privatize the public organizations to reform the economy,” he added.
Ismail said Pakistan had been one of the leading economies in the region until the 1990s, but the poor governance model brought its development to the lowest level in the last two to three decades.
“A specific elite group is ruling the country without the active participation of the public, experts and professionals,” he maintained, pointing out that his party wanted to focus on improving the education and health sectors.
Criticizing the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ex-finance minister said the current administration had lost the opportunity for economic reforms by bringing in the latest budget.
“This government has literally wasted opportunities for effective reforms in the governance and economic models,” he said.
Ismail acknowledged it was a long and assiduous journey to establish the new party, adding it would also be challenging to get its members elected to parliament.
“We know it is difficult,” he said, “but the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”
“If elections are held in a year now, definitely we will not be in a position to fully participate in them through our platform,” he continued. “But if we get two to three years ahead of the national elections, we will be in a position to field our candidates across the country.”
Ismail said the Awam Pakistan Party leadership planned to hold workers’ conventions across the country and mobilize the public.
“We will be using social media effectively for our publicity, but along with that, we will be focusing on ground activities like conventions and seminars on issues of public importance,” he added.