Daily Times

70 years of Pakistan’s politics, and this was the first time, the 100 days of a newly formed government were so enthusiastically counted by a vast majority of the Pakistanis — regardless of whether they loved PTI or other parties. This is clearly a huge achievement of PTI beyond the 100 days. The awareness among the people to hold their elected representatives accountable was never done to an extent this party did in the last few years. PTI in the pre-election era not only created awareness but also raised public expectations of good governance to turn Pakistan into a Medina like state.

While the awareness part worked well, PTI’s own voters started taking strict accountability of their elected representatives, the expectations side clearly remained shaken and eventually translated into the poor performance of PTI in the by-elections where it lost many seats vacated by its senior leaders. Again, PTI raised its voters’ expectations of Pakistan as a country functioning without loans, the creation of millions of jobs, the revival of the economy through a conducive environment and people friendly government. Contrary to the promises, instead of bidding IMF farewell it was welcomed. Moreover, the Prime Minister visited Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China for special loan packages. It was well known that Pakistan has been going through a financial crunch but PTI kept maligning their predecessors for loans in the past and signed several such deals in their first 100 days. Selling low-cost assets of government in the first 100 days further confused investors and traders — the effects of such policies were seen in the stock exchange.

Depoliticized police in KP was a famous election narrative of PTI which they used in their election campaign too, however, PTI which once criticized Sindh Government for political interference in Police changed several IGs in its first 100 days. The resignation of the Ex-IG KP Nasir Durrani from Punjab Police Reforms Commission testified the political pressure on Police which the government kept denying in the Supreme Court.

Investments and business transactions generally become slow during elections and gain pace when the new government takes over and creates a stable and enabling environment for businesses. PTI immediately after taking over started lobbying against its own government because of the financial crisis to an extent that it started selling cars and cattle’s of the Prime Minister Secretariat. In addition, a massive crackdown was started in the real estate sector against private societies. Such publicity stunts of the newly formed government created panic among the business community and eventually resulted in the collapse of the stock exchange.

It is well known that Pakistan has been going through a financial crunch but PTI kept maligning their predecessors for loans in the past and signed several such deals in their first 100 days

Besides all the odd, civil-military relations significantly improved during this government and it was widely acknowledged not only within Pakistan but also internationally. Both Civilian and Military leadership visited China and Saudi Arabia for the strengthening of relations. Unlike the past, both civilian and military leadership convened a joint meeting with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his visit to Pakistan in September. This clearly conveyed a strong message of unity between the military and civilian leadership.

Moving forward, the Government has milestones to achieve which were never done before. Creating 10 million jobs for youth and the construction of 5 million homes for needy people will be key challenges, especially when the government is running after foreign loans. Similarly, more than 26 million children are out of schools — the state never paid attention to their schooling and the unique circumstances around them. To achieve this, the government will have to revamp education ministries and departments. Similarly, more than 14,000 women are killed every year mainly due to gender-based violence and early marriages which is also considered a form of GBV. The government will have to make even more stringent laws to protect women, especially against early marriages and honour killings. All of these are issues, which need policy implementation in letter and spirit. This can be done if the government will continue with a ‘will’ to bring a positive change in the society and make this country prosperous — which they promised before elections.

The writer is a public policy commentator and communications professional. He can be contacted on twitter at zia051 or zia051@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, December 2^nd 2018.