BEING in government and running the affairs of the state will obviously bring the first-term prime minister face to face with realities that in opposition were someone else’s concern, with the only point of interest for him then being how to attack and deride any perceived shortcomings.

But, given his reputation as a man of principle whose word is of paramount importance to him, it would also be clear to friends and foes alike that even if his new-found realities force Imran Khan to compromise in any significant way, he will not. Or will he?

This of course is a million-dollar question. For now, in his first three months in office, as the prime minister finds his feet he must be relieved that all key institutions are on the same page, ie he is mostly on their page in order to obviate any misunderstanding.

The prime minister seems to be realising what it takes to stay in the saddle when you are sustained in office by a wafer-thin parliamentary majority.

The PTI-led government is often attacked rather prematurely because after over two decades in the political wilderness it is just about entering the corridors of power and should be given time to get on with learning, and then governing.

Why, then, is it already drawing fire? All oppositions claim the moral high ground because it is easy to do so in that role. In PTI’s case, it took this practice to totally new heights where it claimed it was perched on such a high moral pedestal that nobody else had ever even aspired to it before.

Not just this, its leadership made assertions — dare I say, rather poorly sourced — about the economy and the volume of looted wealth stashed abroad that, once in power, it would be able to find and repatriate expeditiously. This would, it claimed, wipe out most, if not all, the resource blues of our country.

Its claims not just covered the economy — though what hurts everyone in the pocket is obviously their major concern — but also clean, good governance, as it pledged to free the administration particularly the police force from any political influence.

Once in power, the prime minister, who may well have preferred a presidential system, seems to be realising what it takes to stay in the saddle when you are sustained in office by a wafer-thin parliamentary majority, notwithstanding the support of powerful state institutions.

The two orders naming two different police officers as SSP Operations of the capital this week came from the Interior Ministry and the office of the minister of state (MoS) for interior. This sort of confusion one can put down to inexperience.

Also, MoS Shahryar Afridi could have been a bit sleep-deprived as he is spending many of his nights not sleeping but raiding police posts and stations. This, by no means, is criticism as he seems to be personally ensuring that the masses are not unduly troubled by the police in the dead of night.

This was not all. I remember reading an opinion poll around election time which cited the party’s police reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as one of the major reasons the PTI was leading all its rivals in the polls.

The man who rolled out those reforms and embodied their spirit, before his retirement, was said to be IGP Nasir Khan Durrani. It was the same Mr Durrani Imran Khan referred to in his first address to the nation after PTI emerged as the largest single party in the elections.

By the time Mr Khan addressed the nation, it was abundantly clear his party would be able to form the governments in Islamabad, Peshawar and will squeeze into power in Lahore too. It was in the context of Punjab that the PTI leader named the retired police officer.

A little later, former IGP Durrani was named as the chairman of the police reforms commission, the man who would lead the policy formulation to rid the Punjab police of all outside influences so the force could do its job without fear or favour.

Of course the first hint of the ‘slip between cup and lip’ came within days of the new government formation when the DPO Pakpattan police was said to have not extended the expected quantum of courtesy to the first lady’s former spouse and the family and was fired from his job.

The Supreme Court was forgiving of the chief minister and a PTI politician close to the first lady’s family as both apologised unconditionally after it was established before the court that they had interfered in the working of the police and were involved in the DPO’s transfer.

In the meantime, the appointment of PSP officer Tahir Khan as IGP Punjab generated positive feedback for the government as the officer enjoys a no-nonsense reputation and is said to be a man who follows the rule book to the last dot.

This week he received his marching orders after barely a few weeks in office. The Election Commission temporarily halted the move till the by-elections tomorrow. Sources say the IGP was way too upright and refused to follow politically-motivated orders.

Apparently upset at what he saw as a government dithering on its pledged police reforms because a number of its Punjab MPAs are reportedly opposed to losing influence over the police and angered at the arbitrary removal of the IGP, Nasir Durrani resigned on ‘health grounds’.

Government spokesmen were sure the right thing had been done, with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who is believed to speak his boss’s mind, saying unequivocally that those officers not playing ball with the government would face the sack as it had the mandate to make policy.

Despite PTI walking back on some of its key decisions, one hopes for Pakistan’s sake it remains capable of delivering on its remaining agenda so it doesn’t face the wrath of its backers whose expectations are sky high.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018