THE very word tribute is synonymous with rendering praise and thus tributes paid to the departed personally are expected to be profuse with gratuitous acclaim. There has recently been what appeared to be a superfluous flow of tributes appearing in the press concerned with the death of a Member of Parliament and my mind wandered to the death of another MP and who was a minister of the present government and it boggles the mind that the death of the minister did not arouse the superfluity that has occasioned that of the ranking MP.
In my reckoning, both were politicians and I wondered how effective were their respective contributions towards advancing the progress of the constituents they both claim to represent.
A notable disparity between avowed politicians of the PPP and PNCR is the thoroughness of the PPP in promoting their comrades as Members of Parliament as against the insidious practice of the PNCR of pitch-forking supporters through the back door, so to speak, to becoming Members of Parliament and indeed ministers.
Back door politicians to my mind invariably cannot meet the high demands associated with the working class aspirants. The recently departed MP falls into this category.