Lahore, Jan 20 (PTI) Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has announced that its manifesto will be unveiled on January 27, just three weeks before the general elections scheduled for February 8.
The PML-N in October last year formulated a manifesto committee led by Senator Irfan Siddique, which in November went a step further by setting up around 30 subcommittees to encourage a broad spectrum of party leaders to contribute their insights and recommendations, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Furthermore, the party also launched an online portal to enable the general public to participate in the formulation of the party's manifesto actively.
Senator Irfan Saddique reportedly revealed that over six thousand individuals and institutions actively participated in this initiative.
Despite PML-N being the first to publicly and prominently initiate this process, many had anticipated the document's release much earlier.
On the other hand, the PML-N’s sole contender in the political arena, the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), conducted the manifesto preparation exercise internally and revealed its manifesto earlier this month.
Instead of acknowledging the party’s lacklustre performance, its leaders assailed PPP for announcing a bare basic and somewhat thoughtless manifesto.
Senator Irfan had during interviews said that preparing this document was a hectic exercise and that it took two months to articulate the proposals.
The manifesto committee remained under the spotlight last month when reports of the PML-N allegedly planning to propose rolling back of the 18th Amendment made their way to the media.
The PML-N was quick to shoot down these rumours, but their rival PPP used this report as cannon fodder against them.
The 18th Amendment aimed to restore parliamentary sovereignty by transferring powers from the president to the prime minister, decentralising the federal system, improving the relationship between the centre and provinces, and resolving inter-provincial issues.
Senator Irfan had also reportedly claimed that after forming a government, they would create a monitoring and implementation council to ensure the execution of this manifesto. The party's information secretary was not available for comments.
A member of a sub-manifesto committee talking to the paper said that as per his understanding, this manifesto would comprise of how glorious Nawaz Sharif's 2013-17 stint was and how the party can continue that journey.
He said there will be commitments to ending poverty, bringing down prices of essential commodities, and improving living standards along with a vague road map regarding solutions to economic challenges.