FROM the lowest grade government employee to the highest placed bureaucrat, an age limit is set when they retire on the grounds that their mental and physical faculties have reached the lowest ebb of quality performance level.

Fresh entrants inject, or at least have a chance to inject, a fresh spirit in the administrative body. Sadly, professional politicians cling to active politics till their last breath.

At an advanced age, when their bodies andfacultiesrequire peace and tranquillity, the aged politicians continue to indulge in a war of words, trying to outclass their rivals.

Most shockingly, these aged parliamentarians assign themselves the task of deciding the fate of 230 million people, and then frame laws that leave a lasting impact on the lives of the electorates.

Even atthefagend,the lastbreath of life, they manoeuvre to induct their inept kith and kin in politics who may have no experience even of managing their own household affairs.

In Pakistan, general elections have proved that the will of the electorate does not matter. Instead, social influence and the wealth of the prospective candidate decide the result.

Members of the National Assembly should display some courage and pass a bill that restricts participation in politics, including the holding of ministerial posts,beyond superannuation.

The retiring politicians, however, should be encouraged to undertake philanthropic pursuits and public welfare projects from their personal resources.

Sayed G.B. Shah Bokhari Peshawar