PTI should not have imposed 100-day benchmark upon itself, says Aitzaz Ahsan

Published December 10, 2018
Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan speaks to reporters in Lahore. — DawnNewsTV
Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan speaks to reporters in Lahore. — DawnNewsTV

Senior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan on Monday said the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) should not have imposed the 100-day plan upon itself to gauge its performance after coming into power.

Speaking to reporters at the Lahore High Court Bar Association, the PPP stalwart said a 100-day benchmark is used to measure performances of governments in countries with presidential systems, and not in parliamentary democracies.

Such a measure is deployed in presidential systems because a president being the head of the government is conferred a lot of executive powers to implement his policies, he said.

In Pakistan's parliamentary system, "the PTI should not have applied a 100-day criterion upon itself since it does not have a majority in the upper house (Senate)", Ahsan added.

Read: PM Khan puts greater focus on 'future plans' in 100-day review speech

In response to a question, he said the direction of the government's policies will become apparent but that it should be "given some time".

Barrister Ahsan claimed that a large part of the country, in the form of Sindh province, "steadfastly stands with the PPP", as evident from the party's repeated victory in Sindh in general elections of the past decade.

He said political opponents had "done a lot of propaganda" against the PPP regarding deaths in Thar and the lack of development in Sindh but the province "is with PPP as usual".

"That is what they are worried about," he added, without naming any party.

He played down reports of differences between Railways Min­is­ter Sheikh Rashid and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, saying: "A struggle sometimes starts between ministers from day one."

See: Rashid caught on camera mocking ‘picnicking’ Fawad

The actual issue for the ruling coalition, Ahsan said, is its failure to present a basic policy and vision for the country so far.

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