ISLAMABAD (PR) - Marvi Memons book 'Parliamentary Diaries is being launched at Marriot Hotel in Islamabad at 5:00 pm today (Thursday). The book largely comprises of her reflections on the days she served as a PML-Q parliamentarian in the National Assembly. Following is the text of Introduction Chapter of 'Parliamentary Diaries: Ever since my oath at the National Assembly, I have been conscious of my accountability to the people who have elected me. For this very purpose I have been maintaining a daily diary publicly on the internet. My diary pages have recorded my life as it has unfolded. A mix of what I have been able to diligently record daily. Three years of my life as an MNA. Every day has been learning. Every day has been a jam packed 24 hours. For each day, a bit of current affairs, a bit of personal life, a bit of my Parliamentary interventions, and a bit of my political activities. All mixed up to produce what is in essence a day in the life of a Pakistani Parliamentarian. It is I believe the very first time that a Pakistani Parliamentarian is sharing a daily diary in Pakistan. A diary which is freely accessible to every single Pakistani on the internet and to the world, a diary with daily notes, articles, reports, speeches of the assembly, assembly committee minutes, photos, my paintings, videos. The reason I wish to share is because I want each Pakistani to understand what actually went on in parliament whilst the country went nose diving to failed status. All so that it is clear what has not worked for Pakistan and how we must shift gear to save Pakistan. There is a significant difference in the way I spent March 2008 and how I spent June 2011. It seems like a lifetime. My priorities have been shaped by events. My struggles have transformed my thinking. Whilst the first year inside parliament was spent defending President Musharraf and PMLs government to whom I owed the reserved seat, the rest of the two years were spent standing up for only what was right. Many policies, which I blindly defended at the beginning, I questioned later. I tried to get fair and less biased and more just as I grew as an MNA. During this time PML President Ch Shujat was supportive of all my endeavours for the people because my struggles helped build PMLQs humanitarian grassroots versus drawing room image. I always had a one on one rapport with him. He used to be pleased with my struggles and we shared many meals, where he would encourage me and I would fight out his politically expedient decisions, which didnt fit my 'haq (Justice) mold. I defended the party till the last day the PML was in opposition very loyally. However, during this period I also witnessed the worst of 'old politics first hand and up close. Living through a toothless parliament, a corrupt executive which wasted national resources, which was forcing the state to a failed state status, which had led its people to misery, and which had created chaos and law of the jungle led me to such a revulsion for the criminal negligence of the old politics that it finally made me exit parliament. This journey of taking my own initiative on responses to humanitarian concerns in all constituencies of Pakistan increased my contact with poor people in each area of Pakistan. I was able to speak from experience not from the internet. I could challenge all who claimed I had no constituency. Pakistan was my constituency. I travelled the length and breadth and held hands with as many discriminated people to understand the pain and arrive at solutions. All the events are laid before you in the form of this daily diary so that you may judge my three years in Parliament for yourself. Whilst it was only 1192 days it seems like a lifetime. What is fresh in my eyes and my heart are images that changed me for life: > the pain of the Tando Bhago Badin and Okara Dipalpur tail enders at being cheated of their rightful water, or that of the woman in Johi whilst drinking dirty water > the desperation of the mothers in Balozai, Shishkat Hunza or Kot Almo Thatto who lost there homes because of the incompetence of government when quake, glacier melt and floods happened, > the misery of the young nurses, clerks, Lady Health workers, OGDCL engineers, NPIW employees, education staff, lecturers when they got tear gassed just because they wanted just remuneration for jobs on merit, > the shame of the individuals who were subjected to rapes, karo karis, acid burns, torture and then had to stand in the streets for justice, > the despair of the families whose loved ones were sacrificed in airplane crashes, bomb attacks, Taliban fire, senseless ethnic sectarian or political parties terror outfits target killings, > the panic of the mothers whose children went missing and kidnapped due to tribal wars and elitist thirst for ransom, > the IDPs of KPK, AJK or those displaced in floods whose whole lives were torn because parliamentarians just couldnt get it right Unlike many others I didnt hear about such people in newspapers or saw them on TV, I saw them in their homes and held their hands. And then I fought for them in parliament, in the media, on the roads and in the court. Contrasting such miseries I also witnessed the highest level of political expediency, versus national interests politics when I sat in the drawing rooms or on the floor of the house. I saw my countrys honour being compromised for money, seats in assembly, cabinet ministerial slots. Along with all of this I also saw much hope in the eyes of the Pakistanis who wanted change and yearned for sincere leadership. Even if you can feel and see a fraction of what I did in these parliamentary days I believe I would have done my bit. Simply because then I would have succeeded in sharing with you the urgency of putting an end to this downward slide for 180 million Pakistanis by taking the right step forward. A step that would throw the despots and bring the reformists in immediately. I believe in Accountability to the people of Pakistan for their time, since as a public representative from the day I took oath I belonged to them. And they deserve to see if I have done their trust justice. It has been a long struggle for my marooara (my people of Pakistan), which has just started. Marvi Memons book launch today