Why Vote for PTI? By Ms. Saira Hussain Well, why not?

I have yet to hear a single person with a valid/logical reason as to why I should not vote for PTI. Most of what I hear is just bias, opinions fo rmed in people's heads due to their old affiliation with a party or because thei r family supports a certain party and they feel obliged to follow step. Then the re are people with personal gains who know a certain someone of a certain party and the only interest they have is to bring up 'apna banda' for 'kaam sham'. I wish we were not a blind follower of any party not even PTI. Pakistan should b e the first priority not a party affiliation, not any personal gain or even ego. I support PTI but my support is far from blind and if I see the party drifting away from the basis many people are supporting it for, I'll be the first one to object to it. So why PTI? The first and most important reason is that I always wished for stro ng parties rather than strong personalities in our political system. I wish that the party system evolves such that the basis of voting is an ideology, a manife sto, party policies regarding economy, education, defense, foreign affairs etc. I wish we can take the next step to making an educated and informed choice. Ask yourself when was the last time any of us read a party manifesto or policies ? Right. Never. This is the first time that I, at least, made an effort to sear ch the documents and read them. The only reason is that for the first time I hav e a feeling that these are not just a copy+paste job, that some thought has actu ally gone into these documents and that these are not just documents doomed to d ust collecting once the party comes into power but they will actually be impleme nted. The next reason is Party Structure. This is the first time in history of Pakista n when a party held proper elections and we saw people from the grass root level contest and win. Some parties followed suit as we heard PMLN also elected simil ar candidates. Tell me please, is that not a change!? Even if someone doesn't ag ree with PTI ideology at least they should give them credit for setting the righ t examples, for injecting some positive trends in Pakistani politics. Another appreciable aspect of party structure we see is the Razakar and Party Fu nd initiative. Again we see a first in a disciplined party structuring. I believ e that the Razakar scheme not only provides a platform to all those who want to do something for the party they support but it also provides people, specially t he youth, to channelize their energies in a healthy manner. The Party fund promi ses to fund people who can't afford to run their campaigns. Did we ever see that happening before? Politics was always a game of money. Financial status of a ca ndidate has always been one of the most important factor in deciding potential c andidates by the higher-ups of any party. The Need for a Leader - As much as I don't favor personality politics, it is als o a fact that at this point in time we do need a Leader more than anything. We n eed someone to show us the right direction, someone to lead by example. We need someone to gather us, to make a nation out of a mass of people. At this point we are just a crowd of people, a 'hajoom'. We lack direction, motivation and posit ivity. We as a nation are failing, losing hope. At present Imran has not much to show but does no one see what I see in his 'jalsas'? A motivation! A hope! A se ntiment! An air of dedication! how can anyone not see that and imagine if that c an be channelized in the right direction! We need someone to put us on the right path and I am sure that we can take lead from there on. I have that much hope i n my people. I really admire the first promise Imran made and took from the nation, the promi se not to lie. How beautiful is that! I am still in awe of its beauty and meanin g. Such a simple statement but so full of everything that we need at this time. Imagine a nation that is truthful to themselves and their country, truthful to t heir studies, their jobs, their causes, how can such a nation fail? That is the kind of training and direction we need the most at this point in time. I request everyone to just once rid their minds of bias, personal interest, fami ly following and most importantly ego and think of the reasons, the 'deciding fa

ctors' for choosing the right party for your vote, for it is not anyone but your self that you are answerable to in the very first place. Be true to yourself, at the very least.