Daily Times

The political tumult sparked by the budget season has almost settled down. This helpless nation has been witnessing noisy sessions of the National Assembly with prophecies for the fall of the PTI government. In the budget session, the scenario looked more probable when the maverick Sardar Akhtar Mengal rebelled. After sailing smoothly in the National Assembly for the passage of the National Budget, the Prime Minister made a triumphal speech in the House. He was upbeat and blew hot and cold speaking out his mind on a number of issues from the prophecies of doom – minus one or minus all – to corruption, accountability, NRO, mafias and cartels, 18th Amendment etc.

What he did not talk about were the challenges menacing the nation. The nation is confronted with many existential challenges. The Covid-19 has been wreaking havoc on the people and the economy of the country. The cases of coronavirus infections have long crossed the staggering figure of 200,000. The healthcare facilities were seemingly short for the increasing cases of hospitalization. The pandemic is yet to strike in its dreaded second wave which has been more devastating in the most affected countries. No sense of emergency prevails within the ranks of the federal regime. Contrarily, the Drug Regulatory Authority has increased the prices of the drugs.

The tension on the Line of Control has been relentlessly intensifying. Our traditional foe has made no secret of his claim over the AJK and Gilgit Baltistan. Its attempts to create chaos in the country by sponsoring terrorism and destabilizing Balochistan through the so called Balochistan Liberation Army are now a public knowledge. It has launched an organized campaign at the regional and international levels to discredit Pakistan and its armed forces employing diplomatic deceit, international print and electronic media with sponsored columns and essays. The scores of social media sites patronage by India have been spewing venomous propaganda against Pakistan. Our people have been buying the enemy’s false propaganda out of naivety. We do not see proactive, sustained and direction-driven policy responses to counter the enemy’s moves.

The economy continues to be in doldrums. Admittedly, the PTI regime inherited an ailing economy characterized by excessive foreign loans; shrinking exports; falling revenues; loss incurring public sector enterprises; a shy private sector; declining foreign investments and administrative handicaps. The PTI has been in power through two years now and this time should have been enough to pull the economy out of its morbid condition. Corruption was projected as the main cause of our economic woes. The alleged corrupts have been put in the dock but the accountability process seems to head nowhere either because of the gross incompetence of the Accountability Bureau or the power and outreach the ousted leaders still wield within the administration. The nation wants to know the reasons.

The gulf between the rural and urban centres of Sindh fueled from time to time by the narrow minded federal Ministers from Karachi has been widening to the peril of the social, economic and political harmony in Sindh

There is political chaos in the country. The opposition is in disarray. It has been behaving like a frightened herd that begins running helter and skelter after having sensed the presence of a predator. All the opposition leaders’ attempts are directed to having respite from accountability. They have not put up an effective opposition nor have they come up with proposals to improve the laws governing the accountability process. They have only been apt to put up a noisy show in the House. The ruling party, as a political stratagem, engages them in an equally noisy dual. The Prime Minister says they do not matter to him. This spectacle has greatly disillusioned the people of Pakistan.

The 18th Amendment in the Constitution has addressed the chronic issue of provincial autonomy after seven decades. For the first time in our chequered history, the small provinces have developed a sense of equal partnership in the state affairs with appropriate shares in the central divisible pool of resources and jobs. From this perspective, the Amendment is a remarkable piece of legislation. However, the Constitutions are not written in stone, and are liable to review. Wise leaders always attempt to garner political consensus for any purported constitutional amendment. The constitutional issues cannot be addressed by hostile talk and angry public outbursts. This hardens the position of the stakeholders.

What the nation expected from the PTI regime was good governance. Their governance has not in any way been better than the previous two civilian regimes. The PPP has to its credit the successful running of coalition governments in KPK, Sindh and the Federation and the passage of the 18th Amendment by consensus despite all the odds the civilian regimes have been usually confronted with. The PTI regime has so far achieved no success in governance which it could boast of in the public. Its promised change – inclusive of shelter, jobs, clean administration, transparent accountability, recovery of the plundered wealth of the nation, police, health and education reforms – all look like grand fairy or delusionary tales sold to the people.

The federal bonds with the second big province of the country are weakening because of narrow political interests. The gulf between the rural and urban centres of Sindh fueled from time to time by the narrow minded federal Ministers from Karachi has been widening to the peril of the social, economic and political harmony in Sindh. The political and economic interests of all the segments of the population of Sindh lie in unity in diversity and constant political dialogue. Karachi is riddled with multiple problems of water, traffic congestion, insanitation, health hazards and insecurity besides suffering a lot from covid-19 pandemic. These issues cannot be addressed by confrontational politics.

Admittedly, the Government of Sindh has miserably failed to address the civic problems of the cities and towns of the province. Within the spirit of devolution under the 18th Amendment, the PPP failed to empower the local governments in the province with sufficient funds to address these problems. Despite all this, the territorial integrity of Sindh is integral to the Federation. The political differences should not obscure this, Mr. Prime Minister.

The writer was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books