Daily Times

Pakistan has elected its new parliament. Voters have mercilessly punished status quo parties and voted for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which promised change for the prosperity and development of Pakistan. The Pakistani people have experienced many struggles under different political systems. It is time for a new government to serve the fundamental needs of the people.

It is a turning point in the history of Pakistan in many ways. The credit for the turnout goes to Imran Khan. He ran an effective campaign against the Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty — the Sharif and Bhutto families. In this process Imran Khan has dealt them a devastating blow. The outcome proves that a well-thought-out strategy can produce new leaders, something Pakistan has lacked for some time.

The outcome shows that Imran Khan not only made huge gains in the Punjabi-speaking and Pashto speaking areas of Pakistan but also attracted support of Sindh. This means that Imran has effectively consolidated his party’s core and expanded to other parts of Pakistan.

Now it’s important for Imran to deliver on the promises he made with the public. There are multiple challenges which PTI’s government will have to face. Clearly, Imran’s pledge to return the country to economic growth and to crack down on corruption struck a note with the millions of young Pakistanis wanting jobs and those who were tired of the endless corruption scandals.

After forming a new government, Imran’s most important task will be to unite the country. This will be difficult after such an aggressive campaign. He will have to overcome the religious divides and sectarianism. His priority will be to put Pakistan back on the road to economic growth and development by restoring business confidence, creating jobs for millions of unemployed young people, creating better prospects for the growing middleclass and improving the country’s infrastructure. Imran has to continue the process of modernising Pakistan and making the country fit for the 21st century. It will also be important for the Imran’s administration to improve relations with neighbour countries. The new government should see to it that fostering relations with one country at the cost of the other will not pay.

Pakistan’s challenges should not, however, be taken as a legacy from the past governments. Rather, the new government should run with a clean slate, ignoring the origins of the challenges.

Imran Khan not only made huge gains in the Punjabi-speaking and Pashto speaking areas of Pakistan but also attracted support in Sindh, effectively consolidating his party’s core and expanding to other parts of the country

As PTI is making the new government, it should prove its tenure as an innings without resorting to chimerical gossip. These are all positive aspects of development. ‘Talking big and achieving little’ is symptomatic of the leadership of the country. The new government should ensure that this syndrome will have no place in the development of the country. The new government should not work against people’s interests. What is crucial at this juncture is that the new government should measure up to people’s expectations by focusing more on work and less on talk.

It will be crucial to restore trust and confidence between political actors, the citizens, and their institutions. This will be key to fully implement the recommendations of the electoral evaluation commission released after the poll, and to create a climate conducive to a peaceful and transparent electoral process.

Pakistan is currently  suffering from recurrent fiscal deficits. In the same context, these fiscal deficits are holding back the government from executing necessary infrastructure investments. It will be interesting to see how the PTI government will address debt, economy, and currency as well.

Pakistan suffers from a substantial debt-to-GDP ratio that requires either boosting the economic growth rate or decreasing interest rates. However, the strategy could shake the confidence in the country, which means that the government should work on creating a solid ground capable of providing a sustainable economic growth rate that, in consequence, will reduce the risk premium on interest rates.

Besides the necessary changes to the current legal framework to become more encouraging for foreign and local investments, the new Cabinet should seriously explore the competitive advantages of the Pakistan’s economy and target the existing opportunities, human capital for instance, which can boost economic growth.

In addition, improving the quality of Pakistani products in some fields to meet international standards and become more competitive can also be beneficial, especially as reducing the cost of production can sometimes be impossible given the considerable costs of energy and telecommunications.

The public is expecting quite a lot from Khan — PTI needs to now keenly work to fulfil these expectations. No doubt it’s very hard to do but PTI will have to manage, otherwise the public they have awoken will find a way to dethrone them too.

The writer is a PhD scholar and author of various books on international relations, criminology and gender studies. He can be reached at fastian.mentor@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, July 31^st 2018.