Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Manifesto for General Elections 2013
PTI manifesto in English (PDF Format)
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AN AGENDA FOR RESURGENCE
The Manifesto
Of
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
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PREAMBLE
A New Beginning
The PTI agenda of resurgence articulates the long neglected aspirations of our
people and spells out the vision of a modern Islamic republic that advocates
tolerance, moderation and freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice. We
look to the future with hope and confidence as we set Pakistan on a course to
political stability, social harmony, and economic prosperity for all.
The PTI is not merely a political party; it is a broad based movement that
embraces the interests of all Pakistanis. A people whose cultural and ethnic
diversities blend into common goals and aspirations for a just society based on a
democratic culture and the rule of law.
The PTI is determined to provide a credible new leadership that can restore
Pakistan’s political and economic sovereignty through building a new bond of
trust between the government and the people. Only through the active
participation of the people can we collectively mobilize our human and material
resources to forge ahead on the road to a confident and self-reliant nation.
Our Ideology
Pakistanis crave dignity and self-respect. Any hope of recovery from the
multifaceted crisis engulfing the nation remains illusory without reviving the self-
esteem of the people and restoring their confidence in the political leadership. We
can achieve this by following the Principles of “Unity, Faith and Discipline” as
expounded by the Quaid-e-Azam.
PTI is committed to transparency in government and an across the board
accountability. It believes in federalism and functional autonomy of the provinces,
based on the spirit and fundamental principles of parliamentary democracy as
envisaged in the 1973 Constitution.
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Our strength lies in our people. Human development would thus remain our
highest priority. Pakistan has rich and diverse cultures including those of the
minorities. We must nurture and allow every opportunity for this diversity of
culture and traditions to flourish.
Our family values bind our society. Despite the grinding poverty and injustice that
beset us today, it is the structure of the family that provides the net that keeps the
social fabric intact. The present dismal state of women and children in terms of
their access to health care, nutrition, and education can not be ignored.
Investment in women and children would ensure that the family structure remains
intact and future generations are brought up in a healthy and secure
environment.
Our Mission
Whilst establishing the rule of law and ensuring protection of human rights
through an independent and honest judiciary, strive for the social development
and economic prosperity of our citizens, especially the poor and underprivileged
masses.
Our Goals
• Establish Pakistan as a truly independent and sovereign state that
becomes a source of pride for our people.
• Strengthen state institutions to promote democracy and complete political,
economic and religious freedom for the people.
• Provide an accountable and efficient government that ensures the protection
of life and property of its citizens.
• Launch an Education Revolution to promote universal literacy and raise the
standard of education in our schools, colleges and universities.
• Ensure the availability of adequate Healthcare services for all citizens.
• Highest priority to poverty alleviation through policies aimed at creating more
job opportunities and enabling ownership of assets to the poor.
• A merit based system that provides equal opportunity for employment and
upward social mobility for all, specially the working classes
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• Create an environment which encourages the private sector to grow and
create greater wealth and employment opportunities.
• End the VIP culture by setting an example in simple living and an austere
lifestyle.
• Eliminate draconian laws that give unchecked power to Police and the
Agencies or which limit the rights of Citizens.
• A self reliant economy which is free of dependence on foreign aid.
• Promote regional peace and strengthen our relationships with friendly
countries.
INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
The fundamentals for a free democratic society and democratic culture cannot
flourish without strengthening the vital state institutions which are-the Executive,
the Legislature, and the Judiciary. In Pakistan the credibility of these institutions
to deliver has been undermined by successive governments while corruption at
the highest levels has made them a focus of public scorn and ridicule. The PTI
would restore the credibility of vital state institutions and their moral authority to
govern through a process of reform.
Constitutional Reforms
The 1973 constitution is a unique and historic document, because it was passed
unanimously by the Parliament representing all political parties in the country.
The subsequent battering that it took has left it in tatters. There is a need to go
back to the beginning and revive the Constitution in letter and spirit, by doing
away with the amendments and laws which go against the basic structure and
spirit of the federation and the vision of the Quaid-e- Azam.
By promoting a culture of tolerance and co operation amongst the political
parties, within and outside the assemblies, we shall strive for priority to legislation
benefiting the common man and curtail the Presidential powers of promulgating
ordinances that benefit only a few.
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Judicial Reforms
Repeated interruptions in the democratic process have lot to do with the failure to
strengthen the judiciary. The PTI proposes to take following measures to
strengthen the judicial system:
• Set up a Judicial Commission to recommend and approve judicial
appointments in the High Courts and the Supreme Court and to draw up a
code of ethics for judges and to undertake their accountability;
• Vacancies in the superior courts would be filled up and sufficient number of
courts and judges provided at the lower levels for easy access to justice and
to clear the backlog of cases pending in courts.
• The parallel judicial systems such as special judges will be dispensed with;
• The appointments to subordinate judiciary will be made only through Public
Service Commissions, which will be made autonomous.
• In order to attract the best lawyers to accept judicial appointments,
emoluments of judges will be raised and appropriate facilities provided.
• A Panchayat System, with specific rules and regulations, would be introduced
at the local level to perform primarily as arbitration forums and as Small
Causes Courts;
• The legal aid system for impoverished litigants with good causes will be
strengthened;
• Additional court buildings and facilities will be provided where required and
the existing facilities improved and modernized.
• Court procedures will be simplified and streamlined to avoid unnecessary
expenditure and delays in settlement of cases.
• The legal education system will be reformed to raise standards and facilities
for higher legal education.
Electoral Reforms
Elections in a democratic society are critical milestones to further strengthen the
democratic process. They provide a sifting course through which the quality of
leadership progressively improves. Without major reforms, there is little hope that
more elections under the present institutional framework can ever propel an
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honest leadership that this country so desperately needs. To ensure free and fair
elections with maximum turnout, the PTI proposes to institute the following
electoral reforms:
• Strengthen the Election Commission’s capacity to enforce electoral rules and
regulations by ensuring complete administrative and financial autonomy.
Appropriate administrative powers across the country shall be given to the
chief election commissioner for the election period.
• Provide for easy registration of voters instead of the current cumbersome
process.
• Easy access to voters list for people to check their votes, by putting these
online and displaying at convenient places.
• Ban appointment, transfers, and promotions of civil servants after the
announcement of the election schedule without the permission of the Election
Commission;
• A person convicted of any genuine criminal offence and sentenced to
imprisonment would be barred from contesting elections even if an appeal is
pending in any court of law;
• Those who have had loans written off and resorted to deliberate loan defaults
would be barred from contesting elections.
Strengthening the Federation
Federalism by definition means a form of government in which the constitution
distributes powers between center and provinces including the power to
promulgate laws, collect and share revenues, and maintain law and order. True
devolution of power can only start with giving due autonomy to the provinces as
envisaged in the Constitution.
The PTI believes that citizens of the four federating units have equal rights to
education, health care, economic growth opportunities, and justice. To date, the
revenue sharing criteria for all finance awards was based purely on population. In
a federation where the federating units differ widely in terms of per capita income,
population density, administrative infrastructure, ability to raise taxes, and fiscal
discipline, it is not fair to base the revenue sharing formula on population only.
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The present resource distribution formula deprives the people of some regions
and provinces of their self sustenance needs and condemns them to perpetual
poverty and poor quality of life. The bulk of provincial resources come from taxes
collected and distributed by the federal government. Without equitable sharing of
resources between provinces, the impact of devolving powers to the provinces
and the districts would be of little consequence. The PTI intends to strengthen the
federation by introducing following reforms;
• Provincial autonomy as envisaged in the constitution will be adhered to in
letter and spirit.
• Allow greater administrative autonomy to the provinces in the appointment
of key civil servants such as; Chief Secretaries, IGs etc.
• The outdated FATA administrative system will be done away with through
appropriate amendments in the FCR based on the wishes of the people of
FATA. .Powers in FATA shall be devolved to lower level in conformity with
the system in the settled areas. .Party Act shall also be made applicable to
FATA areas.
• The NFC shall have a permanent secretariat with sufficient financial
resources to conduct independent economic and other surveys as may be
required from time to time
• Level of human development in each province would be an additional
criteria for determining provincial share of the divisible pool;
• The Federal Share in the net proceeds of divisible pool taxes would be
reduced in line with requirements determined through studies and surveys
• The task of assessing royalties for provinces will be entrusted to an
independent body;
• Provincial finance commissions would be strengthened for fiscal discipline,
resource mobilization, and resource distribution within each province
Local Government
The newly created local government institutions have been turned into a political
tool in the hands of the government. The system perpetuated by giving total
power to one individual; the District Nazim, who is not directly elected by the
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people, will be reviewed and replaced by a system that is equitable and is in
accordance with the aspirations of the people.
PTI shall strive towards creating a set of local institutions in which people can
repose their trust and confidence. Citizen’s and Community boards would be
created to monitor the delivery of services. This will bring government closer to
the people and make it more responsive and accountable. The PTI proposes the
following specific reforms.
• Local government institutions will be accountable to the Provincial
assemblies;
• District Nazim will be elected from amongst the Town and union Nazims
who are directly elected by the people;
• Responsibility and authority of each tier of the local government will be
clearly defined;
• PFC’s in all the provinces will be required to allocate and provide the
required funds directly to all the local governments instead of routing these
through the district nazims
• Financial transparency will be ensured in awarding and implementation of
projects.
Administrative Reforms
The reform of the bureaucracy is essential for efficient service delivery and
implementation of socio-economic development agenda. Civil service reforms
would be instituted to provide all necessary support to the civil servants to
perform and live a life of dignity and respect. Necessary checks and balances
would be put in place to hold them accountable for their acts as custodians of
public trust. The PTI would introduce the following reforms in the civil service:
• Public Service Commissions (PSC’s) would be made fully autonomous
administratively and financially. Political appointments in PSC’s will be
discontinued. Such appointments will be made purely on merit and in a
transparent manner.
• Appointments to the civil service at all levels would be made by the public
service commissions. No exceptions will be allowed;
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• System of examinations conducted by the public service commission shall
be reviewed to ensure that equal opportunity was provided to all
candidates from all parts of the country. The present system that tends to
give preference to those who come through the educational systems that
is largely available to the elites will be eliminated..
• PTI shall ensure that the Government undertakes appropriate career
planning exercise for the civil servants in order to improve the fast
deteriorating levels of governance at all levels and ensure that the
bureaucracy delivers the required services to all sections of the society
effectively and efficiently.
• Introduce minimum tenures for senior civil servant posts such as federal
and provincial secretaries, chief secretaries, IG and DIGs etc;
• Enhance access of information to the general public to the maximum
extent feasible by reviewing and revising laws and regulations concerning
confidentiality;
• Give constitutional protection to public servants to perform their official
functions and protect them against political interference;
• Re-train the bureaucracy to meet new challenges.
Police Reforms
The security of life and property of citizens is one of the primary responsibilities of
the state. Without this fundamental protection, investment and economic growth
is not possible. The police system in Pakistan has suffered due to political
considerations over-riding merit and due process of law.
The PTI proposes to transform the police system, which is based on coercion to a
service oriented police by instituting the following reforms:
• Set up a Permanent Public Safety Commissions at the Federal and
Provincial levels to reform the police system;
• Legislate to expunge or modify laws which give unfettered power to the
police to arrest citizens.
• Ensure recruitments on merit and develop a training system that
orientates the police towards helping citizens.
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• Legislate to provide security of service to police officers and thus free
them from political interference. At the same time set up a system of
accountability to ensure that the police do not violate the law or the rights
of citizens.
• Increase salaries and facilities commensurate with a decent standard of
living.
• Equip police with modern arms and communication facilities;
• Give greater importance to setting up of CPLCs, to increase interaction of
the police and citizens;
• Modernize and upgrade police stations to become user friendly centers for
help to needy citizens;
• Improve the conditions in our Jails to make them function as Correction
Centers and eliminate the practice of police torture;
• Rationalize and reform the intelligence gathering agencies to refocus on
intelligence gathering against crime rather then chasing political
opponents.
Corruption and Accountability
Corruption is endemic in our society because it flows from the top. A major
reason for this is the centralization of authority in the hands of the top
administration officials. Discretionary funds at the disposal of top political officials
are misused for political patronage and to oblige supporters. Lack of
transparency in government and increasing defence and administrative
expenditure create greater opportunity for corruption. The accountability
mechanism is not only weak but is being used for political ends.
To reduce corruption and make the accountability process more credible, the PTI
shall:
• Revise the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance to make NAB
a completely independent body. The head of the NAB would be a person
of unquestioned integrity while other members would be from the higher
judiciary, retired civil servants, eminent lawyers and citizens with
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unblemished records. The post of chairman NAB shall be provided
constitutional protection.
• NAB shall function under the administrative control of the JUDICIAL
COMMISSION.
• Strengthen the role of Public Accounts Committees in monitoring
government financial transactions;
• Discretionary funds at the disposal of high officials will be subjected to
proper audit by the PAC
• Make the government contract awarding system transparent by making
the concerned regulatory authorities autonomous, effective and efficient.
• Reduce the role of government by revising rules and regulations and
doing away with ineffective and unproductive government departments.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Poverty prevails among the masses and there is little improvement in the social
indicators. Universal primary education is an elusive dream. Access to basic
health care remains poor with infant mortality rate one of the highest in the world.
The present population growth rate of 2.2 percent is still amongst the highest in
the world. An estimated 8 million children suffer severe malnourishment. The
government’s estimate that 63 percent of population has access to safe drinking
water is unrealistic. Social sector development would thus receive the highest
priority from PTI.
Poverty Reduction
Independent estimates place poverty incidence in Pakistan at between 30 to 35
percent. Government claims about poverty reduction and that economic growth
has trickled down to the poor is not credible. Economic growth does not always
benefit the poor. If the growth in output is achieved through capital-intensification
of the production process, employment growth is unlikely to match output growth.
Further, if growth occurs in sectors that provide salaried as opposed to wage
employment, the poor are not likely to benefit.
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Various microfinance schemes have been launched, but there is no evidence that
microfinance has led to reduction of poverty. On the other hand, research has
shown that ownership or access to assets is the single most powerful variable
that reduces poverty and contributes to economic empowerment of the poor.
Rural poverty incidence among families owning some land – even as low as one
acre – is 17 percent, which rises to 32 percent for families that own no land.
Similarly housing and employment are important poverty reduction variables in
urban areas.
In terms of poverty reduction strategy, it is shown that in rural areas ownership of
assets (land and/or cattle) reduces the chances of being poor by 55 percent. In
urban areas, employment is shown to reduce the chances of being poor by 45
percent.
Fiscal policy also plays a very important role. The current fiscal policy structure is
unjust in the sense that the poor are subsidizing the rich by carrying a much
larger responsibility of tax payments through indirect taxation. The tax structure
shall be made more equitable.
Our poverty reduction strategy will focus on:
• Rural land reforms, such that the maximum numbers of rural households
own a minimum-specified area of land.
• Urban land policy, such that state and military controlled land in urban
areas is allocated for development of housing estates, with on average 3
marla/80 square yards plots.
• The share of direct taxes in total tax revenues is raised through taxation of
wealth and capital gains.
Education for All
The quality of public sector education at all levels has degenerated. Children from
households in the top 20 percent in urban areas showed gross enrollment two
and half times greater then children from the poorest 20 percent of rural
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households. Overall the gross enrollment rates for middle level (classes 6-8)
have decreased. It is indeed shameful that only 16 percent of children aged 10-
12 attend middle level schooling. There are approximately 175,000 Government
schools in Pakistan that offer substandard education, inadequate teachers,
facilities and materials. A cost effective model is needed to raise the level of
education across this massive school network.
Unregulated growth of private sector primary education has led to a system of
educational apartheid. Quality education has become an exclusive preserve of
the elite thus forcing the majority to perpetual ignorance and poverty. While the
rich send their children to expensive English medium schools, the majority poor
are forced to send their children to antiquated Urdu medium public schools or
Madrassahs. As a result, despite the huge increase in population, the proportion
of students attending government primary schools declined, particularly in the
urban areas where the private sector now accounts for almost half of primary
enrollments.
Quality of higher education has also deteriorated with exodus of qualified
professionals and continues to decline in the professional capacity of faculty
members. Applied research is almost non-existent. For a country of 160 million,
there are only 85 universities with approved charters, of which only 8 in the public
sector and 18 in the private sector, are degree awarding institutions.
The PTI is determined to launch a national education movement based on equity
to achieve increased access and improved quality of education at all levels. PTI
proposes to:
• Abolish educational apartheid by introducing a common core syllabus for
all schools;
• Progressively increase state spending on education from less than 1.5%
to five percent of the Gross Domestic Product;
• Lay emphasis on teacher training by setting up standard facilities in all
districts to ensure the availability of sufficient number of local teachers in
each district
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• Launch a national literacy campaign by mobilizing all segments of society
including, fresh graduates, unemployed youth and retired educationists to
achieve 80 percent functional literacy;
• Ensure access to primary education for all children by adding schools
managed by local councils.
• Reduce the drop out rate at elementary level by offering incentives in the
shape of free text books, nutrition support through mid-day meals, and
stipends;
• Set up an elite education service by offering market salaries to
government teachers at all levels to attract the best and make teaching
the most sought after profession again;
• Make universities fully autonomous to be managed by boards comprising
educationists, philanthropists, and eminent citizens and ensure academic
freedom to faculty members;
• Establish a public university in collaboration with the private sector in each
district.
• Design and implement a scholarship scheme for top students from each
board examination;
• Formulate a policy to encourage greater public-private partnership in
expanding the network of educational institutions and in improving their
standards;
• Create an autonomous monitoring authority to check and provide
feedback on the quality of education at all levels;
• Offer tax incentives to industry in general and agri-based industry in
particular for investment in vocational and technical education in the rural
areas.
Healthy People – Healthy Nation
The PTI plans to revamp and upgrade the public health care system in Pakistan
in line with its slogan “healthy people, healthy nation.” by putting in place
following reforms:
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• Progressively double state spending on health, establish a threshold for
setting up of basic health units in order to extend the facility to the village
level.
• Target to achieve100 per cent immunization of children against
preventable diseases;
• Policy emphasis on preventive healthcare particularly in communicable
and infectious diseases, reproductive health care, pre and post-natal
health care to drastically reduce infant mortality rate and under-five
mortality rate;
• Ensure universal access to clean drinking water in all villages and urban
slums by setting up water filtration plants;
• Improving sanitation through better sewerage and drainage schemes in
urban areas
• Decentralization of healthcare services with greater management and
monitoring role of local councils over basic healthcare centers particularly
with facilities for mother and child care;
• Introduce tele-medicine in upgraded rural health centers and hospitals
using Internet and telecommunications infrastructure;
• Revise the pricing policy for drugs including import duties and levies to
ensure that essential drugs are available at affordable prices;
• Encourage private-public partnership under a policy which provides
affordable healthcare services;
• Institutionalize the autonomy of Government hospitals
• Introduce low-cost health insurance schemes and concessional health
care schemes for the elderly and poor
• Bring accountability of doctors, para-medical and non-medical staff in their
professional duties at Government and private hospitals and healthcare
centers by formulating a policy in consultation with their representative
associations.
Population Welfare
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The continuing high population growth rate is a major national concern and strain
on national resources. Rapid population growth means greater development
needs and stress on the existing physical infrastructure.
The PTI will launch a national campaign on population welfare and make it an
integral part of the national health policy. Greater access to quality education
would go a long way creating greater awareness on population related issues.
PTI will:
• Launch public awareness campaigns on population welfare and reinforce
Programmes to reduce the population growth rate from 2.2 percent to 1.6
percent;
• Introduce integrated comprehensive population welfare Programmes to
improve the impact of existing projects by expanding coverage and
improved management;
• Introduce modern family planning methods that allow women increased
options on family planning services;
Housing
Adequate shelter is a fundamental human need. Ever increasing migration of the
rural population to urban centers and inadequate resources for housing has
made planned housing development critical to provide adequate housing for all.
Almost 40 percent of the urban population, lives in slums without basic amenities
such as access to clean drinking water, sanitation, drainage, and solid waste
disposal, because of a lack of proper town planning. PTI plans to initiate major
low cost housing programmes in urban areas through following measures:
• Under a revised national housing policy facilitate shelter to all in urban
slums and initiate construction of 5.0 Lac. new housing units each year;
• Develop a policy of leasing and mortgage of property.
• Review the urban building codes and construction bye laws and ensure
compliance; and
• Make credit available for housing on friendly terms.
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Youth
Youth would be in the vanguard of PTI’s national revival efforts. The energies
and idealism of the youth shall be harnessed to act as the locomotive of national
change. The youth would be the focus of PTI’s education, health care, and
economic plans. Under a national youth policy, they would be actively involved in
rural reconstruction, drainage and sanitation, social forestry, public health
awareness campaigns, environment protection and adult literacy.
Competitive sports can play a critical role in improving the health, leadership
qualities, discipline, and building team work attributes in the youth. Greater sports
activities also prevent the youth from pursuing social evils such as drugs etc. A
national youth policy will be introduced with emphasis on a comprehensive sports
policy for setting up in each district international level facilities for cricket, hockey,
football and other sports..
Empowerment of Women
The PTI is determined to introduce and implement new laws, policies, and
programmes to provide a level playing field for the social, political, and economic
growth of women. Empowerment of women is directly linked to their greater
economic role, which is dependent on increased access to education and skill
development. The PTI will bring women in the mainstream of national social and
economic development. It aims to
• Provide free education to girls up to Matric;
• Introduce scholarships for graduation in pursuit of higher education in
computer sciences, medicine, management, and engineering;
• Create social awareness against un Islamic customs and cruel practices
such as Sawarra in NWFP and Karo Kari in Sindh and enforce laws to
eradicate such practices;
• Provide housing and child care assistance to working women;
• Encourage the active involvement of women in the management of
community based rural development initiatives;
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• Develop a national programme for vocational and skill-based training for
income generation;
• Design and implement special functional literacy programmes for women;
• Legislate and enforce laws for in-camera trial of molestation and rape
cases;
• Establish separate “women support cells” in each police station at tehsil
level which are managed and run by women to support and process
criminal cases in which women are the accused; and
• Legislate and enforce a special law on violence against women.
Environment
The reckless policies of the past without due regard to environmental concerns
has put considerable pressure on the environment and natural resources, so vital
to the future generations of Pakistan. Inappropriate and ill-conceived projects
have put under extreme stress our land, soil, water, forests, and wildlife. High
population growth rate is an additional source of environmental degradation. Our
forests are dwindling, leading to erosion of valuable topsoil threatening the
livelihood of people living in the mountains. The uncontrolled growth of urban
areas with poor sanitation conditions is threatening natural ecosystems.
The PTI commits itself to a sustainable development through an equitable use
of resources for meeting the needs of the present and future generations;
• Expedite the implementation of the national environment action plan
(NEAP);
• National/Public parks will be set up across the country
• Enforce the Environment Protection Act 1997 which provides a framework
for conservation of wildlife and biodiversity, establishment of
environmental tribunals and magistrates, inclusion of environmental issues
in school curriculum, and public awareness;
• Design national guidelines and modules for the development of towns and
cities as a planning and implementation tool for urban development;
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• Introduce and enforce byelaws to control land, air and water pollution by
industry and urban centers.
• Eliminate timber Mafia and ensure transfer of economic benefits to the
local inhabitants from legal logging;
• Ban import of hazardous chemical wastes for recycling by any industry or
for dumping;
• Launch a national campaign of forestation;
• Develop and implement community based programmes for conversion of
degraded forests and wasteland into quality forests;
• Deny exploitation of offshore resources, especially marine life, by big
trawlers;
• Offer incentives to the private sector to invest in research and
development in environment-friendly technology for application in
agriculture, industry and the services sector; and
• Develop programmes to clean our river systems, streams and other water
bodies.
ECONOMIC REVIVAL
The most serious aspect of our dire economic situation is the growing debt that
limits the fiscal space to invest in human development and infrastructure. Nearly
50 million Pakistanis, a half of our population, live in extreme poverty and sub-
human conditions, and their number is growing rapidly.
The challenge is the mobilization of local resources including local investment
opportunities to surmount low investment, poor productivity and degrading
physical and social infrastructure. Only when local investors feel safe and
confident to invest will overseas Pakistanis followed by Strategic foreign
investors invest in the economy. Local investment would result in growth that will
generate employment, remove poverty and create prosperity. Agriculture is the
mainstay of our economy and investment in agriculture would help to eliminate
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poverty as studies have shown that extreme poverty is more prevalent in rural
areas compared to urban centers.
Economic Policy
Our economic policy will be based on limiting the role of the government to
create an environment conducive for wealth creation through legal means and
removing bureaucratic and other impediments, which inhibit investment. To
reverse the cycle of ever increasing poverty, the PTI aims to formulate policies
for a sustainable at least 8 per cent annual GDP growth rate.
Agriculture would receive the greatest attention as poverty is more acute in the
rural areas and the potential for growth in agriculture and agri-based industry far
surpass any other sector of the economy. We plan to achieve macro-economic
stability and rapid growth by following economic fundamentals of fiscal balance,
investment in human and physical infrastructure, stable rupee, moderate
inflation, easy availability of credit to agriculture and business, and promotion of
small to medium business enterprises and industry. The major economic policy
planks will be to:
• Implement a long-term debt management strategy and divert savings from
debt servicing to human development;
• Conduct an international audit of all loans secured by Pakistan to establish
their utilization;
• Negotiate a long-term debt management strategy with the donors to limit
the annual debt repayment to a percentage of the foreign exchange
earnings.
• Enact and enforce laws to establish broad policy guidelines for new loans
including a limit for new debt and stop the policy of seeking loans at
commercial rates;
• Negotiate debt swap and mobilize resources for investments
• Reduce non development government expenditures.
• Rationalize the Defence expenditure and subject the defence budget to a
parliamentary scrutiny committee.
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• Investment priority on sectors with greater potential for employment
generation, including small to medium scale rural industries, infrastructure,
housing (urban and rural), agriculture, and forestry;
• Encourage investment in industry by removing bureaucratic hurdles and
by improving the efficiency of the capital market to attract investment from
small investors;
• Revamp and divest non-strategic public sector organizations to Pakistani
investors.
• Rationalize subsidies to protect weaker sections of society;
• Introduce institutional mechanisms to interact on a daily basis between the
industry and the government;
• Plan for the timely provision of good seeds and unadulterated pesticides;
• A water conservation and equitable distribution plan that maximizes
agricultural production;
• Revamp and reinvent the tax collection machinery of the Central Board of
Revenue; and
Tax Reforms
The complexity of the tax law is the single most important factor responsible for
most of the revenue losses. The current tax system is indefensible. It is complex,
burdensome, and severely limits economic opportunity. Our tax philosophy is to
encourage and motivate citizens to create wealth and share part of their hard-
earned income by paying tax at a lower rate. PTI envisions to:
• Introduce a tax system that is fair, flatter, and simpler;
• Progressively reduce federal taxes to five in all at reasonable rates;
• Professionalize tax administration and make CBR autonomous;
• Change source of revenue from indirect to direct taxation thus reducing
the burden on the common citizen;
• Simplify the tax system by eliminating unnecessary paperwork;
• Eliminate exemptions through SROs that only benefit special interest
groups;
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• Provide incentives to raise savings rate from 12 percent to 20 percent of
GDP;
• Introduce a tax system that allows people to compute their taxes easily,
for example on the Internet, without the need for a lawyer or an
accountant
Agriculture – Backbone of Our Economy
Investment in agriculture is the quickest and surest way for rapid economic
recovery and reducing poverty as it accounts for 25 percent of the GDP and
employs 45 percent of the country’s labor force. Agriculture cannot just be viewed
as a source of food. Gross agricultural production in Pakistan can be increased 2
to 3-fold by an efficient, scientifically planned use of the existing resources. It
requires relatively simple innovations and would depend mainly on more efficient
management of the complex agricultural enterprise, comprising the following:
Resource Use Planning
Improved Post Harvest Processing and Marketing
Improved Crop Modeling and Support Price Mechanism
Strengthening of Agriculture Institutions
Introduction of Urban Agriculture
Developing Agro-climatology
Harnessing Additional Water Resources
There is no effective substitute to building additional large storage dams on the
Indus. The process of developing a political consensus on this issue should be
started without delay. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to use irrigation
water in response to crop needs. The present method of flood irrigation thru a
fixed wara bundi system is highly wasteful and results in only about 20%
efficiency of water use for actual crop production. Water use efficiency in some of
the middle-eastern countries (Cyprus, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan) is close to
75-80% of the theoretical application efficiency. Since we are now a water-scarce
country, we must reflect this fact in price fixation of irrigation water and develop
improved methods for water application to increase efficiency. Simultaneously
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the huge wastage of water thru leakage/seepage from canals and watercourses
should be reduced, especially in saline areas. The PTI commits itself to reforming
agriculture by:
• Linking prices for agriculture produce to input costs;
• Introducing a nationwide crop and livestock insurance scheme;
• Allocating 65 per cent of ADP funds for agricultural and rural development
to improve the rural physical and social infrastructure such as, irrigation,
roads, transport, power, telecommunication, credit facilities, access to safe
drinking water, education, health-care, sanitation and housing;
• Allowing free movement of food grains throughout the country;
• Introduce corporate agriculture by encouraging private sector investment
in farming;
• Encouraging social forestry, horticulture, vegetable growing, floriculture,
sericulture, mushroom farming;
• Encouraging inland fisheries, and bee-keeping;
• Encouraging small-scale rural cottage industry by providing easy access
to credit at low interest rates;
• Set up a network of service centers for farmers at tehsil level and
introduce Tele-Agriculture to feed vital information to farmers;
• Reforming land acquisition laws and computerize land records, ownership
and all other relevant information;
• Boosting export of high value and processed agriculture produce;
• Investing more in barani agriculture productivity;
• Introducing weekly Mandis in rural towns and villages;
• Introducing wind and solar energy wherever feasible for supplying power
exclusively to villages that have no electrification.
• Introducing special credit schemes for drought hit farmers to reinvest in
livestock and farming;
• Reform education in villages and rural towns to incorporate agriculture
related subjects in the curriculum in rural schools.
Irrigation
PTI will undertake the following reforms measures in the field of irrigation:
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• 50 percent increase irrigation area in 10 years through construction and
optimal use of small, medium and large irrigation projects;
• Provide incentives for the use of alternative sources of irrigation such as
drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, and.
• Develop a 20 year master plan for water storage including construction of
dams including utilizing floodwaters for irrigation.
Land Reforms
The PTI is committed to introduce following land reforms:
• Monitor the ownership and use of distributed state land and ensure credit
and agriculture support services to farmers;
• Computerize land records
• Initiate separate monitoring mechanisms to monitor the settlement of land
ceiling disputes and to improve the timely settlement of cases and
enforcement of verdicts; and
• Expedite distribution of cultivable state land among landless farmers.
Development of Industry
Revival of industrial growth is essential for the revival of the economy. The PTI
will:
• Provide special incentive and credit package to support small to medium
scale industry.
• Encourage efficient and healthy capital market for facilitating investment
and allowing profitable investment opportunities to small investors;
• Improve the regulatory efficiency of the Security and Exchange
Commission in particular its role in ensuring timely dividends to investors;
• Promote venture capital;
• Bring equity and streamline merger, liquidation, and take-over rules and
regulations and monitor the performance of the SECP in implementing the
rules; and
• Develop framework for pension fund investment in the capital market.
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Small and Medium Enterprises
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the growth engines of the economy
and account for 94% of growth in developed economies of the world. In Pakistan
these businesses account for 30% of our GDP but provide employment to
approximately 70% of our labour force. The SME sector has been long neglected
and has not been able to play the role that they have the potential of playing in
the country’s economic development.
Although, some strides have been made in the past years to provide SMEs
access to finance, we feel that this is not enough. What the SMEs require is
business support services to enable them to profitably and productively access
this financing. Such services will provide the SMEs with the knowledge of
approaching banks, improving processes and quality of goods and accessing
new markets, especially export markets. Moreover, the financial institutions
themselves need to re-orient themselves and create a capacity of being able to
cater to the SMEs. PTI will follow a strategy to:
• Encourage the setting up of Business Support Services (BSS) Providers in
the private sector. These BSS providers will engage with SMEs in a hand-
holding exercise to improve their awareness of global issues that effect
businesses and to raise them to the next level of international best
practices;
• Encourage creation of linkages between SMEs and large businesses to
ensure markets for their goods; and
• Improve the working of financial institutions so that they, too, have the
capacity of assessing SME risk, designing products suitable to them and
providing timely financial assistance.
• Recognizing the absence of suitable professionals for SME lending and
development, we will introduce curriculum in leading business (and other)
schools, wherein this will be taught as a subject. This will then ensure that
in future, the country has a cadre of individuals who are well versed in
SME lending techniques and in SME development issues.
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Labor Reforms
PTI intends to rationalize, simplify, and enforce labor laws to ensure:
• All rights associated with trade union activities;
• The implementation of the already guaranteed profit sharing system;
• The repeal of repressive labor laws, and amendments in the trade unions
act and other laws to bring these in line with provisions of the Convention
of the International Labor Organization to which Pakistan is a signatory;
• The extension of the scope of labor laws to include labor hired by
contractors under the “Thekedari system” so as to protect their rights to
bargaining;
• The reorganization of existing Social Security institutions to eliminate
corruption and ensure that the funds paid by employers to the Employees
Old-age Benefit Institution and other social security institutions reach the
employees;
• The provision of job security to workers and insurance and social
security/unemployment cover, and strengthening of ‘safety net’ in
consultation with economic experts and Trade Unions;
• Representation for working classes in the National and Provincial
Assemblies and local bodies; and
• Improved vocational training opportunities for labor to raise their technical
skills, productivity and incomes.
Privatization Policy
We believe that privatization has an important role to play in the development of
our country, but disposing off national assets must be done in a planned and
transparent manner, with the proceeds being used for debt retirement or for other
clearly stated national priorities. Indiscriminate privatization under the present
military government because of its insatiable need for cash to finance its
spending sprees, has led to tremendous abuse and corruption. Examples in this
regard are the aborted sale of the Steel Mills, the handover of the KESC to
private parties and that of PTCL, whose new owners have been given
extraordinary concessions to the detriment of other local competitors. The new
owners of banks such as HBL, Allied, UBL and some energy companies have
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made manifold returns on equity for their new owners in very short periods. A
significant contribution to these profits has been the enormous spreads between
deposit and lending rates of banks during the last two to three years. It also
shows how little concern has been given to the plight of the ordinary depositor
who is their major customer.
PTI believes that privatization must take place under clear policy guidelines by an
independent privatization commission that is professionally run and under the
strict surveillance of parliament. Our policy will ensure that privatization is held
with all possible transparency and with full public consultation. We intend to put in
place the following principles:
• Strengthening of all respective Industrial Regulators (NEPRA, OGRA, SBP
etc) and to give them full (not token) independence to ensure that the
consumer’s interest is fully protected.
• A transparent and public consultative process on the assets that are to be
privatized.
• A transparent and public process for the sale of assets.
• Preference will be given to local investors or sales through the stock
exchanges.
• A detailed quarterly report on the privatization process to parliament to
ensure that the process remains open and transparent.
Tourism
Tourism would be encouraged as a means for generating employment and
investment in the local economy. The PTI will:
• Promote domestic tourism to forge national cohesion;
• Develop a national policy for tourism to encourage small to medium
investors in promoting domestic tourism; and
• Prepare a comprehensive policy with the allocation of necessary
resources to protect national heritage;
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Energy Sector
The PTI will re-focus investment in the energy sector from thermal and furnace
oil to hydel, coal, and gas for power generation. The de-regulation and
liberalization policy would aim to develop local energy resources for consumption
at affordable rates.
• Restructuring of WAPDA would be expedited to improve the efficiency of
power generation, transmission and distribution;
• Develop a commercially viable power tariff structure that protects the
weaker sections of society from unbridled increase in utility rates and yet
generates enough resources for future investment;
• Expediting rural electrification so that 80 percent of the villages have
power;
• Encourage CNG use-Introduce policy for conversion of all public
commercial vehicles to CNG;
• Introduce a policy with time bound objectives for the promotion of non-
conventional sources of energy such as wind and solar power;
• Nuclear power programme will be expanded; and
• In the oil and coal sector, encourage local private sector in extraction and
encourage joint ventures with foreign companies.
Communication Infrastructure
Pakistan’s physical communication infrastructure is antiquated and impedes
economic growth. The road network requires major investment for rehabilitation
and upgradation while the railway system continues to suffer the ill effects of
years of neglect and mismanagement.
• A comprehensive restructuring plan would be prepared to upgrade the
physical communications infrastructure.
• Introduce public-private partnership in improving the efficiency of the
railway system;
• Railway cargo services with container transport will be encouraged;
• The National Highways Authority will identify the most heavily used
sections of the national highway system to formulate and implement an
up-gradation plan;
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• All the four provincial capitals would be linked with four lane (two lane
each way) highway;
• Streamline cargo flights based on commercial requirements with seasonal
fluctuations-initiate cargo flights from Quetta for export of high value fruits;
• Invest in improving the efficiency of the ports for cargo handling to reduce
turnaround time; and
• Gwadar port would be upgraded and linked to national highway grid.
Telecommunications and Information Technology
Modern telecommunication services are essential pre-requisite for human and
economic development. The recent progress in the access to Internet facilities
would be sustained and expanded. Already, about 500 cities, towns, and villages
have access to Internet. The PTI will initiate the following reforms in the telecom
sector:
• The PTA would be made more autonomous.
• Rules and regulations would be streamlined to eliminate discrimination
and provide a level playing field between government-owned and private
telecom companies;
• Increase foreign currency holding ceiling for software exporters from 35
percent to 75 percent; and
• Provide free Internet connections all private recognized IT institutes and
universities.
NATIONAL SECURITY
To achieve our Aims of economic prosperity and Human development, we need
to ensure peace in our region. Conflicts within or across our borders will only
divert the national resources and energies. The external threat to our country has
been minimized by our nuclear and deterrent capability, but the conflict in
Afghanistan is already having an adverse impact in our western border areas.
We must arrest this spread of militancy through effective diplomatic measures
and a show of force where necessary.
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Foreign Policy
Our foreign policy has been susceptible to manipulation because of internal
political instability and weak leadership. The events since September 11 have
reinforced the need for an independent foreign policy that has the backing of the
people and can withstand the pressures brought to bear by external interests. As
a free and sovereign state we must not bend to the dictates of alien interests and
buckle under economic blackmail.
The present campaign against terrorism runs the risk of polarizing the world and
raising the specter of a clash of ideologies. The shortsighted policies of the
present government have pitted the Army against our own people, creating a
national crisis for the sake of petty political gains. The PTI rejects all forms of
political and economic hegemony. Our foreign policy will:
• Promote regional peace with all neighboring countries based on sovereign
equality, mutual benefit and non – interference in each other’s internal
affairs.
• Pursue our political and economic interests more proactively
• Work towards peaceful co-existence with India based on sovereign
equality, and a just solution of outstanding disputes;
• Resolutely support the Kashmiri freedom struggle and promote resolution
of the dispute on the basis of their right of self-determination, on the basis
of UN resolutions;
• Establish a new paradigm of mutually beneficial relations with the USA
based on shared interests and common values;
• Consolidate further the close traditional friendship with the Peoples
Republic of China by substantially increasing cooperation in commerce,
trade, and security areas;
• Actively promote unity and closer economic and security ties among
Islamic States, in particular with our neighbours Iran, Saudi Arabia and the
Gulf states
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• Support efforts for rapid return to normalcy in Afghanistan by
strengthening the unique and close relations with Afghanistan;
• Seek improvement of relations with Russia and enhance cooperation for
mutual benefit
• Maintain traditionally cordial relations and mutually beneficial collaboration
with Europe, in particular the EU.
• Seek broader avenues of economic interaction with AS EAN, Japan, Africa
and Latin America.
• Seek full membership of the SCO – the Shangai Cooperation Organization
• Closely coordinate our negotiating position on WTO matters with like
minded country
Security
The PTI recognizes the necessity of maintaining and developing an effective
capacity for the defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
PTI are committed to:
• Strengthen country’s nuclear deterrent;
• Continue to test and deploy ballistic missiles with a view to increasing their
range and accuracy;
• Rationalize the size and structure of our armed forces in view of the
strength gained from our deterrence capability
• Initiate urgent measures to strengthen the air and naval arms of the armed
forces in addition to focus on modernizing the army;
• Pay special attention to the needs of the retired military personnel.
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