Daily Times

When Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf scame into power following the 2018 general elections it had only a thin majority in the parliament. This, however, failed to dim the hopes for radical change. A change for the better was being demanded as well as promised in almost every state institution.

There were complaints that the establishment had massively manipulated the political process to oust the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party which had led the two previous governments. These did not bother Prime Minister Imran Khan or his supporters too much. To their mind, the people had spoken, and the only thing to focus on was delivering on campaign promises.

Once he had taken oath as prime minister, Imran Khan realized that the enthusiasm for change was causing his supporters to expect changes in a matter of days. The party and the government therefore requested the people to be patient. Imran Khan, more specifically, asked for 100 days to start making an impact and set the direction for the government and the state.

The biggest challenge, among many, it was generally agreed, was for the government to boost the economy that was seen crumbling. Hopes had been high on this count as Asad Umar, one of the party’s most articulte leaders, had been talking about it for quite some time and gave the impression of knowing exactly what was wrong with the previous government’s handling of the economy and how to fix it.

Some of the hopes were dampened early, at least for some of the supporters, with the announcement of cabinet portfolios. Many of the ministers were people who had served in earlier governments for years, even decades, and were thus associated with their failures.

Bribery and nepotism have been the traditional ways to move forward in the country. This is what the youth had wanted and expected Imran Khan to change for them, if nothing else. With every passing day, the hopes are getting dim. The frustration among the youths, including PTI supporters, is increasing

The government, however, reiterated promises for tangible progress, including construction of five million new houses for the homeless and creating 10 million new jobs for the unemployed. The Governor’s Houses in the provinces and the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad were to be given for other uses and austerity was to be the order of the day.

However, the progress has been slow, to say the least. The Governor’s Houses remain the way they were and after some vacillation the Prime Minister’s House has been restored to its intended use. There has been no serious legislative move in the National or the Provincial Assemblies to crete a Seraiki province despite the pre-election fervour for it.

The premier and his finance minister, Asad Umar, refused initially to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund, hoping that assistance from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates would be enough for the country’s needs. However, the support proved insufficient for sustaining the economy and the government was forced to negotiate with the IMF.

Meanwhile, prices of essential commodities, including petroleum products, have been rising. The inflation is higher than the five-year high and the rupee appears to be on a slippery slope in terms of foreign exchange rate. A government leader has added insult to injury by counselling the citizens to eat less considering the times demand everybody to make sacrifices.

Serious concerns were raised about the failure of the government after the ministries were shuffled last week and Asad Umar, the minister for finance, resigned and refused to accept another ministry. He was replaced by Hafeez Sheikh, a former PPP minister. The new cabinet is composed predominantly of defections from the PPP and people who had been in the Musharraf regime. This has poured cold water on all talk of institutional improvement.

Punjab, the biggest and the most prosperous province, has long been a popular measure of any government’s performance.

The Civil Secretariat in Lahore has always been full of egoistic bureaucrats. An experienced, educated, tactful person of extraordinary ability was needed to deal with the bureaucracy and challenge his predecessor Shahbaz Sharif’s claim to having served the province the best in living memory. Ignoring advice from all sides, Imran Khan gave the job to a person of doubtful ability and no charisma.

Bribery and nepotism have been the traditional ways to move forward in the country. This is what the youth had wanted and expected Imran Khan to change for them, if nothing else. With every passing day, the hopes are getting dim. The frustration among the youths, including PTI supporters, is increasing.

There is now talk of switching to a presidential form of government. But the nation’s experience with such a system has not been good. The Ayub Khan era ended up leading to the secession of East Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh.

The PTI and the government are also being accused increasingly of political victimization using the National Accountability Bureau instead of addressing the problems the country is facing. An economic crisis of epic proportions, the water shortage, extremism, terrorism and massive unemployment are among the most urgent. If appropriate measures are not taken quickly to address these issues, the future of democracy would be very uncertain.

The writer is a research scholar at University of Alberta, Canada