Changing destiny: Asad Umar’s plan for Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Asad Umar plans turning Islamabad into the country’s economic hub if elected to parliament.

“Islamabad being the capital should be linked to the global network to make the city an economic hub by diversifying strategies like Bangalore and Dhaka,” said the PTI leader contesting for the NA-48 Islamabad by-elections.

In an interview with The Express Tribune he stated “it’s absolutely critical to devolve power to village councils—once we have a political system in place in Islamabad,” adding that it was shameful for any government to not being able to provide drinking water in the federal capital.

Elaborating his plan of action he said that he would implement the party’s institutional reforms similar to the ones being implemented by the PTI in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which revolved around empowering citizens.

Being the party’s central senior vice president, he wished to transfer power to village councils and vowed to raise the matter up in the National Assembly. “Islamabad will be a global capital of knowledge—youth must be given education,” he said, adding that “It is a shame that the government is cutting down on the higher education budget. PTI aims to increase the budget four- to five-fold.”

He also said that the party aimed to increase the percentage of children receiving vocational training to 20% to 25%.

By kicking off his door to door campaign, Umar is contesting in the upcoming July by-elections after the seat was vacated by PTI Central President Javed Hashmi who defeated Anjum Aqil of PML-N.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2013.