THE election campaign has ended and so have elections. Very soon we are going to have a new government for the next five years. What change this new setup will bring in the lives of 190 million people remains to be seen.

The most likely scenario at the end of five years will be the same or perhaps worst.

I am not a pessimist but looking at the past record and big and hollow promises made by politicians, things are not likely to change for good. The acts of terrorism continue unabated.

Heinous crimes are being committed on petty issues. Politicians involved in corruption, loan defaults and fake degree cases have been allowed to contest elections.

All this points towards a complete failure in the administration of justice.

We talk a lot about judicial activism. The people look towards courts for quick justice.

The question that comes to my mind is: has there been any high-profile politician or any other official involved in corruption, punished during the last five years? Is there any terrorist hanged? The answer is in the negative.

If we want to see Pakistan progress, there is a dire need to revamp the entire system of governance that was inherited from the British.

There has to be homegrown solutions to our problems. Democracy! Yes, but modified to suit our way of lives and religious beliefs, and a good local government system up to the village level.

All institutions free from political influence can also help ameliorate people’s sufferings.

Most of the governments in the past have been a mix of a three to four parties.

These coalition governments worked only for their survival rather than looking after the welfare of the people.

If Pakistan is to survive honourably in the comity of nations, we need a selfless leadership free of corruption and favouritism, bold enough to withstand external pressures, simple in day-to-day living and having welfare of the common man as its top priority.

I pray I am proven wrong about the scenario after five years.

CDRE (r) SAJJAD ALI SHAH BOKHARI Islamabad

Litter and polling campaign IT was mesmerising to see the election campaign preceding the general elections on May 11. As I write this letter at the conclusion of the time for campaigning set by the Election Commission of Pakistan, Islamabad is scintillating with banners and flags of different colours.

Undoubtedly, the political parties spent heaps on advertisement through flags, posters and banners.

However, I would like to request all the political parties concerned to take the responsibility of taking off their advertisements as the elections are now over.

The banners will eventually fall off the poles and walls and will be equal to litter, trodden upon by people and cars alike, and will also ruin the beauty of the capital.

Surely, if they had the colossal funds to spend on these advertisements, they will have the nominal funds required to wrap them up too.

Although the Capital Development Authority is responsible for keeping the capital clean, it is an ethical responsibility of political parties to ensure that no littering is caused by their campaigning.

This stands not only for Islamabad but for other cities as well.

I hope that this will be considered by the political parties as now the elections are over.

IZZ GHANAA ANSARI Islamabad

Contest on multiple seats POLITICAL leaders have contested elections on multiple seats in order to ensure their presence in the parliament. If they win from more than one seat, they can retain only one seat and give up the remaining seats.

Consequently, polling is held again on vacated seats. Costs incurred during the first and the second day of polling is incurred by taxpayers of a poor developing nation.

Contesting elections on various seats should either not be allowed in order to save the taxpayers’ money or the costs spent on re-polls should be incurred by the candidate who contested on multiple seats and became the reason for re-polls.

We, as a struggling nation, need to save each and every paisa of taxpayers’ money and, therefore, need to make rules accordingly.

ZAHEER ABBAS Islamabad

Pakistan needs a Hugo Chávez THE need of the hour is a change in the behaviour of the ruling class in Pakistan.

Our rulers are away from the approach of the common people except during election time. Pakistan needs somebody who could idealise the image of politics.

Their inspiration should be the late Venezuelan president Hugo Rafael Chávez. A solider-turned-politician, he improved his country with his revolutionary social policies and tackle several problems like poverty, corruption and unemployment.

He earned immense love and respect from the poor and working class during his rule of 14 years (1999-2013).

Mr Chávez curbed social evils in Venezuela. A report recently issued by The Guardian gives a comparative analysis of circumstances before and after Hugo Chávez’s rule. He controlled unemployment and reduced it to 7.60 per cent (2009) from 14.50 per cent (1999) and reduced the poverty rate to 8.50 per cent (2011) from 23.40 per cent (1999). The country’s situation would have been better if he had ruled the state for a longer time.

JAYDEV SOOTHAR Petaro