February 8, 2024, is a date that I will always remember as it was the day on which I cast my vote for the first time, and officially became part of the larger mechanism that runs the country. As a young voter, and, indeed, like thousands of others who have done it for the first time, I have a lot of expectations from the new government regardless of who ends up heading it. I naturally want things to change for the better.

The most important thing is that the new government should do everything to empower the country’s youth. The government should create all possible opportunities for the educated people in society. It has been repeatedly reported in recent years that a large number of professionals, especially the younger professionals, have moved abroad as they could not get proper employment in Pakistan. This surely has to change. People tend to move abroad because they find jobs there. Even for those who do get a job in Pakistan, there are much better opportunities offering monetary and lifestyle benefits that attract such people to various countries. The nation invests a huge amount of money on education, but, in turn, gets no benefit out of that investment. We invest while others get to make use of that talent. We cannot afford to waste professional talent just like that.

The incoming government should take steps for creating better job opportunities for the young so that they may get rid of the lure of moving abroad, and work for the betterment of their own country. History tells us that governments in Pakistan have generally not been serious enough to harness the energy of the young generation. As for the politicians, they tend to focus their energies on bringing their own children into the world of politics. It is time they focused on the children of the people of Pakistan at large. The country and its economy can still take off with the help of the right policies in the right direction.

Umer Farooq

Layyah