Two days after the 2018 general elections the Pakistani nation grapples with confusion and hope. The opposition is challenging the results. International media and observers are raising questions. Amid this chaos, PM-in-waiting Imran Khan Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) delivered a historical victory speech from Islamabad. If his election campaign was against the status quo, then Khan’s speech surely set the tone, for his mission of radically altering Pakistan’s governance.
Imran Khan stated that he would be “ashamed to live in a palace like the Prime Minister house, while half of the country’s population lived below the poverty line”. The Prime Minister house alongside all other extravagant government properties, will no longer house elected officials, instead they will be put to public use. His message was of awe-inspiring simplicity- an outcry against the lavish lifestyles of the elected officials that have drained the country, and left no dignity for the poor.
Imran Khan’s agenda intends to cater to the millions of poverty stricken Pakistanis who are deprived of basic human rights, and stripped of their agency. We welcome the plan for poverty alleviation in both rural and urban regions.
Furthermore, Khan delineated his plans for eradicating corruption and administrative ineptitude that have obscured the face of Pakistani governance. While this claim might seem like something we’ve all heard- what is different, is how according to this cricket legend — it will be him and his ministers who will face utmost scrutiny. The procedure of ousting corruption has always failed in Pakistan, as the process has targeted the bottom of the food chain, while here Imran Khan offers first and foremost the heads of his ministers and himself on a platter.
Imran Khan also assured the nation that there will be no political victimsiation and that is a welcome move. He also reminded that he was willing to forget the rhetoric of the opposition against him. Also, on foreign policy he expressed his desire to improve ties with Pakistan’s neighbours and reset the ones with the United States. Khan sounded serious and conciliatory. Even some of his opponents welcomed his style and stance on various issues.
While none of us can predict whether PTI government will be able to eradicate corruption, poverty or maladministration — we know one thing for sure, that a hopeful beginning was made by the PM-in-waiting. *
Published in Daily Times, July 28th 2018.
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