Having realised that the PTI government and Prime Minister Imran Khan were under fire from the print and electronic media, Ramiz Raja, the cricket commentator, took to Twitter, to speak against talk shows and anchor and journalists for their destructive criticism. He tweeted: “What is gone wrong with our TV political shows and anchors? They have lost it showcasing opposition’s morbid views who on their watch had f***ed up Pakistan. If public is feeling the ‘price pang’, it bl**dy well deserves it for voting them in power for 10 years.”
The logic offered is quite unconvincing. How long would the PTI-led government hide behind the bad performance of previous governments? Ramiz Raja, like PM Imran Khan, cabinet ministers and PTI political heavyweights, blame the previous governments for economic ills prevailing in the country, but the public is no longer ready to buy this argument. The public wants the PTI government to deliver instead of mourning previous governments’ inefficiency and absence of public service delivery. It was ‘purana Pakistan’ (old Pakistan) that according to the PTI was being run by corrupt leaders.
The people of Pakistan expect that the ‘Naya Pakistan’ (new Pakistan) puts in place pro-people policies, but it has not happened. Tall claims of breaking the status quo have yet to see the light of the day. Every month, an inflation bomb, hike in petrol and diesel prices, is dropped on the public, putting an extra burden on them. Oil and food prices keep increasing, subsequently resulting in financial hardships faced by the common man. The recent price increase, of almost hundred percent, of various medicines has made it beyond the reach of the low income-earning class.
Domestic gas and electricity charges have been increased, thus burdening the already economically squeezed class. No relief for the economically disadvantaged class can be imagined from the price policy recommended by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), which has recently recommended an increase in gas charges of up to 43 percent on the consumption of 100 units. OGRA has also made recommendations for reduction of present charges on the consumption of more than 300 units.
This clearly implies that the Naya Pakistan is protecting the interests of the wealthy and the business class.
Attempts to control media and power of pen will prove to be counterproductive. Does the PTI government need a media blackout?
Instead of tightening the noose on the corrupt and benami property holders, the government has introduced the Tax Amnesty Scheme, an economic NRO. The scheme would provide protection for the corrupt and tax evaders. After having advertised the Tax Amnesty Scheme in his speech, the PM appealed to tax evaders to declare their assets in order to make their children’s future brighter. Such policies demonstrate that the Naya Pakistan is not different from the purana Pakistan.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reinstated the cellular tax that had been suspended by the former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar. Taking the opportunity of this restoration order, cellular companies have increased the call and net packages up to 33 percent. Why is the government silent on such an irrational increase? Is it the result of the policies pursued by the previous governments? Has the Naya Pakistan introduced any relief for the underprivileged people of this country?
The PTI government is still directionless. This is why while talking on the floor of the National Assembly recently, the PPP chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, lambasted the government for its ‘inability’ to control the ‘tsunami of inflation’. He said, “This government has no plan, no mission and no vision,” adding that the government had failed to meet its tax targets.
Mainstream opposition political parties have planned to organise public rallies against inflation; given the recent price hikes, public protest is expected to be huge. Miscalculation of public anger against the fast shrinking purchasing power will shake the pillars of power the PTI-led government is built upon. To crush political protest over government policies, attempts are being made for political victimisation of the opposition through NAB. Pushing mainstream political parties against the wall will prove to be detrimental to democracy,
Senior journalist and anchor, Hamid Mir, has said that the government is trying to register a new case against the PML-N vice president, Maryam Nawaz, and to get an arrest warrant for Bilawal, who has exposed the PTI government’s poor economic policies. He has given tough time to the government, inside and outside parliament. Bilawal’s strong anti-establishment approach has annoyed both the government and the powers that be.
Character assassination of honest judges, and attempts to remove them, highlights the hypocrisy of the Naya Pakistan. Having resigned from the post of additional attorney general, a coveted position, Zahid F Ebrahim stated that, in his opinion, the attempt to file the reference was not about accountability of judges but a reckless attempt to tarnish the reputation of independent individuals and to browbeat the judiciary.
Nepotism can be gauged by the action of the minister for climate change, Zartaj Gul, who had her sister, Shabnum Gul, selected as a director of NACTA. The appointment was cancelled after media highlighted the issue.
Media and independent anchors keep highlighting the PTI government’s failure to execute the idea of the Naya Pakistan. The Hamlet-like “to be or not to be” about going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a much-needed bailout package has put the government in a fix. Is that a product of the policies pursued by the previous regimes? Certainly not. It is the inefficiency and bad economic planning of the government. PTI’s popularity has plummeted, thanks to its poor economic strategy, and the ‘the tsunami of inflation’. Should TV anchors and writers stop criticising the government and the follies of those at the helm of the country’s affairs? It is not Ramiz Raja who will decide what media and writers should highlight, nor can he dictate what they shouldn’t.
What structural changes have been introduced by the government that media has not highlighted? Media and independent anchors and writers are already facing censorship and self-censorship. Attempts to control media and power of pen will prove to be counterproductive. Does the PTI government need a media blackout?
It is both disappointing and disturbing to note that the PTI and its supporters are losing their temper. What the belligerent commentator has failed to understand is that there is a considerable and conducive environment for the PTI government to perform.
No judicial activism that was seen when Mian Saqib Nisar was the CJP is seen now when Asif Saeed Khosais the CJP who conducts his responsibilities with restraint. Suo moto notices on governance issues that used to be taken by the former CJP Nisar are no more a practice in the Supreme Court of Pakistan chaired by Justice Khosa.
The military establishment and the PTI government are on the same page with regard to national and foreign policies; it is an ideal environment to run the affairs of the country. Many a government wished for such space during the first months of their respective tenure.
It beggars belief that Prime Minister Khan has directed the cabinet ministers and lawmakers from his party to not let leaders from the opposition to speak in the National Assembly
The PTI government, even after ten months, has not able to deliver on the promise of economic prosperity. Almost 60 percent of Pakistan’s population earns less than two dollars per day; given the magnitude of poverty, no relief has been given in the first fiscal budget 2019-20, presented by the PTI government. Prices of cooking oil, sugar, soft drinks, and other items of daily use have been increased.
Wealthy folks like Ramiz Raja do not fully understand the monetary hardships the common class faces every day. The middle class finds it hard to keep home fire burning owing to its shrinking purchasing power. And the common class is in grinding poverty, waiting for things to change in the Naya Pakistan.
Raja, once again, praised Imran Khan’s determination to be successful given the latter’s brilliant captaincy during the 1992 cricket World cup. Winning a cricket world cup match and running the affairs of the country are fundamentally different. The PTI-led government has emerged as the biggest borrower, thus taking a U-turn on every policy the PTI leadership criticised when it was in the opposition.
Anger against certain talk show presenters, who have an independent mind, is understandable, as they do not toe the line the government and PTI fans want them to follow. The PTI government is the original producer of the prevalent ‘hate culture’. Opposition political parties with considerable representation in the lower and the upper house are seen as enemies of the state; as a result, they are not taken on board on issues of national importance, such as implementation of the National Action Plan, and loans from the IMF and the World Bank. Legislation in parliament on various issues cannot be done because of this rigid approach.
It beggars belief that Prime Minister Khan has directed the cabinet ministers and lawmakers from his party to not let leaders from the opposition to speak in the National Assembly, and dictating the custodian of the house to not issue production orders of the opposition MNAs in NAB custody.
Instances such as these do suggest that the Naya Pakistan is being run with old tactics, arrogance and undemocratic norms. One hopes the penny will drop with Rameez Raja.
The writer is an Educationist and a freelance contributor; he can be reached at [email protected]