The manifestos of major political parties announced just days before the Feb 8 polls display their leadership’s approach to making promises to voters and obtaining their necessary approval without giving enough time for any meaningful public scrutiny. Thus, there is also a missing link of accountability of elected representatives by the voters.

An impression has gained ground that financial constraints undermine the viability of the programmes and policies outlined in the manifestos. Critics also say promises have been made without offering concrete implementation plans. Then, as generally perceived, no political party is in a position to secure a two-thirds majority to bring about a constitutional amendment.

With a more insightful view, analysts note that the major parties’ approach is less about choosing between competing ideologies and more about the personalities of key leaders in the running. They see very little to differentiate the major parties ideologically.

This state of affairs is attributed to the repeated interference in the country’s natural political development, inducing political parties to abandon their pursuit of ideologically defined pathways to progress gradually and instead focus on the time-consuming task of survival and self-preservation.

Some of the smaller parties have made commendable contributions to the political culture, though largely........

© Dawn Business