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I was surprised that during presentations from district political activists, almost all of them said that they were not aware of their party constitutions and manifestos before; moreover they did not know difference between constitution and manifesto. Many of the party workers saw for the first time their party constitution, which was provided to them by NDI.
The political parties in many districts computerized their membership records. For this NDI, provided them computer database software, which was specially designed for their party. Some of the parties felt that they disparately needed to establish their parties’ district offices. PML (N) in Multan district and JUI (F) in Khairpur district took the lead by establishing their parties’ district offices. Their fellows from other parties followed the suit and also opened their offices in Chakwal, Mansehra and other districts. As a result of the program almost all the parties established and/or strengthened the ladies wing of their parties.
Some of the distinct efforts included launching of party website by National Party (NP). JUI (F) District Khairpur in a membership drive increased their membership by 6000 members and raised funds of about 200000.
Lets not forget the role of media in taking this program’s activities in the masses of the Pakistan. The local and national print media covered most of the activities the program. Local FM radios, cable TVs and TV channels also provided great help in spreading the message the of the program.
What’s next? The parties have decided to continue their efforts for solving the public issues even after funding expiry from NDI and DFID. They want to retain the DSC and take efforts to make it an institution rather than a committee that just vanishes with the end of a project.
NDI, DFID and their partner organizations have done a great job in showing us how political parties could work for the public interest without actually compromising on their individual ideologies and manifestos. It is now the responsibility of the political parties to keep this change alive and going. What they need is only encouragement from their parties’ senior leadership. As Yousaf Samiullah, Head of DFID Pakistan, emphasizing upon DFID’s development partners, including federal and provincials governments, local citizen’s groups and NGOs, said during his speech “we can only offer guidance, technical facilitation and expertise, and modest finance. The will to change, the will to implement and the determination to sustain for the benefit of all, comes from you, the people and leaders of Pakistan.” In my personal opinion, local governments could play a vital role by recognizing these DSCs as an important agent of change and furthering the agenda of development through cooperative, collaborative and consultative atmosphere. This can be a great help for the local government system itself, which is full of disconnection and disillusionment due to poor service delivery. We all, the citizens, should support this to make it a verdict rather than a mere suggestion.
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Hassan Nasir Mirbahar
Working in a Pakistani NGO; main concentration of my work is on good governance, political participation, election observation and human rights.
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