Daily Times

Since July this year, Pakistan has been vacillating between two points: how to repeat Sri Lanka’s experience of turmoil and how to circumvent the same. Apparently, forces are trying to push Pakistan over the edge of economic bankruptcy compared to the forces trying to pull the country out of any such economic crisis. Pakistan is stretched between the two. Silent spectators are the people of Pakistan.

On August 29, the Pakistanis were stunned to hear a leaked audio call made by Shaukat Tareen to Mohsin Leghari. Tareen had been the Finance Minister for the former government run by the Pakistan Tehreke Insaf (PTI) at the Centre, whereas Leghari is the current Finance Minister for the PTI-led provincial government in Punjab.

The audio call revealed that Tareen was issuing directions to Leghari to write a letter to the central government about the projected incapacity of the provincial government from fulfilling its budgetary promise in the wake of recent floods. Tareen also mentioned that, on his advice, Finance Minister for the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Timor Jhagra had already done the same. Tareen claimed that the letter from Punjab would also reach the IMF through social media, as was the case with the letter from KPK.

Whether or not Leghari followed the precedent, the call made the intent clear: Tareen wanted two provinces (out of four) to stand in revolt against the Centre on the budgetary commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tareen knew, as he expressed, that the provincial snub would undermine the Centre’s efforts to secure the next tranche of the IMF loan, especially when Pakistan was already late in obtaining so. Consequently, Pakistan would be left with one of two choices: either it would be declared bankrupt or it would resort to a mini-budget. In either case, the situation would be ripe for the PTI to score political mileage by enflaming people into revolting against the central government. The Sri Lanka experience would be visited upon the Pakistanis.

The consequent disorder would not only discredit the political parties running the central government from the common platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), but it would also pressurize the central government to succumb to the demand of the PTI to hold general elections immediately. Two birds will be killed with one stone.

The leakage of the call was not a happenstance. PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry had got a hint to the prospective trickle. He was quick to appear on a tv talk show just a day (or two) earlier to announce that the PTI would welcome both KPK and Punjab reneging on their promises to the Centre on the question of their financial commitments. The provinces would seek excuses for the floods wreaking havoc on their areas.

Tareen’s call also divulged the reason for extending the excuse, and it was to attempt to erode the credibility of the central government in the eyes of the IMF. Nevertheless, after the audio call was made public, Asad Umar made a futile effort to defend Tareen publicly by saying that the flood in KPK was a reality, hence the justification for the written letter. Umar, however, failed to justify the intent of Tareen, who wanted to seek revenge from the incumbent central government. He was also doing spiteful efforts to gratify the PTI Chairman.

Tareen could stoop so low to achieve the political objectives of the PTI was unimaginable. Nevertheless, Tareen’s attempt laid bare several other modus operandi adopted by the PTI. For instance, the way the party has been trying to restore its image in the eyes of western countries generally and the United States (US) especially by hiring a US-based lobbying firm. The PTI had to do that because it vociferously attributed its ouster from the Centre to a conspiracy hatched by the US, which was in collaboration with the local actors such as the PDM and the Pakistan Army.

Interestingly, one wonders why the PTI failed to hire any lobbying firm to raise the issue of Kashmir at the international level after India abrogated Article 370 and made Kashmir’s reorganization in August 2019. At that time, the PTI was running the central government and it kept mum. Now, to make its voice heard, the PTI has hired the services of a lobbying firm.

Similarly, one can comprehend the reason for which the Afghan Taliban have suddenly started blaming Pakistan for permitting the US drones to cross its air space and launch missile attacks in Afghanistan. PTI’s Shireen Mazari was the instigator of doubting Pakistan’s stance that the country did not permit its air space to the US drones to reach Afghanistan. She tends to make her opinion the final word. Though Pakistan repudiated the allegation, the Afghan Taliban persisted with the idea that the July 31 mini-missile strike against Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul was made possible with the help or permission of Pakistan. Consequently, the Afghan Taliban also harbour grievances against Pakistan.

The PTI seems to have so far not tolerated the fall from the Centre – the plummet that took place on April 10 through the democratic way of the vote of no-confidence. Now, the PTI is on the revenge course no matter what the cost. The underlying assumption is that the PTI is a party of the purified, who can do no wrong.

Interestingly, on the one hand, the PTI members have tried to undermine Pakistan’s effort to secure loans from the IMF to run economic affairs; on the other hand, the PTI members have opened the vista for criticizing Pakistan at the regional level. What the PTI wants to do with Pakistan is yet to be seen.

The writer can be reached at qaisarrashid @yahoo.com