Elections are nearing!! The season of political rallies, blame-game, slogans, empty promises and false claims will soon begin! It is not important, who wins or who looses, what is important is how much our elected representatives will deliver. It is not necessary to comment on who did what in the past because everybody knows which political leader played a vital role in the development of Chitral, but in my view, even what we have had is not enough and we could have progressed more if we had acted as responsible citizens. However, it is of no use to cry over spilled milk, let us altogether design our future Chitral!

As we live in a constitutionally democratic country where democracy has been abused since long by insincere political bodies as they have been given free hand by the society itself who get hypnotized by them every time and reelect them in spite of their flaws and pitiable performance. Put aside our district Chitral, the whole country could have touched the skies if no chance were given to political heads for corruption and messing with public wealth. Why expect government to hold them accountable when the real power lies in the hands of the people themselves! We are the ones who give them the powers and we must decide their fate based on their performance. For that, we need a change in our sociopolitical system that should automatically force the politicians to serve the nation, not rule them. We should devise a system that will maximize the outcome of whom we elect. Let us, the people of Chitral, forget all our biases, get united and take the first step in this regard. How about forming a non-political and not-for-profit social welfare organization consisting of people from all backgrounds whose sole ambition should be to organize the public and engage them in political matters in a way that should benefit our society as a whole. This organization, by and with the consent of all of its members, would put forward a certain aims and objectives for the would-be MNA and MPAs and assure those candidates of victory through unanimous voting on condition that those stated goals will be fulfilled by that particular MNA or MPA after getting into office. And then this organization should and will keep an eye on those elected representatives whether they do achieve those aims and objectives or not. If they are successful in doing their job then that organization should re-elect that man, but if he fails to deliver what he was supposed to do as per agreement, then the organization should unanimously kick him out of the political arena forever! That organization will have a specific vote bank based on the number of voters voluntarily registered with it. The voters will cast their vote just in accordance with the decision taken by the organization. In that way, the organization will weigh heavily against the politicians, and it will have its influence over them to act responsibly and effectively.

For instance, let us take the load shedding problem in centre Chitral. The area is having hours of load shedding everyday. For the next elections, as the people demand, this should be one of the objectives to be achieved. Of the contestants, one comes to the organization and promises to accomplish those targets including the electricity problem in the first, let’s say, 3 years if he gets elected. Let’s suppose, the organization has a registered vote bank of 8,000 voters that will have a decisive role in the victory of that contestant. The organization and the contestant arrive at an agreement. Election comes and that particular contestant gets 8,000 votes of the organization as per their agreement, and resultantly wins in the election. Now after getting into power, obviously he would have to fulfill his promise and solve the electricity crises if he wants to secure his political career. In case, if he fails, he will face political death in future
and cannot show his face again! If he achieves most but not all of the specified goals, then he be given another chance. But if fails again, then he be gone!

I believe, in this way not only can we optimize the output of our politicians but also it will create an environment of accountability, hence a sense of responsibility will arise in society among the ruler and the ruled, leading our remote district to prosperity and setting an example for the rest of the world to follow. Everything has to be modified in order to earn maximum good for the people; similarly Pakistani political drama also needs modification, and that sort of step will really prove best results. It is hoped that my idea will be liked by many of your readers, if not, then a better plan should be shared to add to our knowledge what could be done to improve the current political scenario in Pakistan!