IN truth, any federal government would struggle to make substantive achievements in its first 100 days in office. Moreover, the PTI’s penchant for snazzy politics and perhaps Prime Minister Imran Khan’s haste to demonstrate his government is prepared for the demands of high office put undue pressure on the ruling setup to deliver quick results.
That was evident in yesterday’s PR-heavy, substance-light ceremony held in Islamabad to mark the PTI’s first 100 days in office.
Nothing particularly new or meaningful about policy matters was revealed and the achievements that were mentioned are modest at best. Indeed, more notable are the crises that the government has had to contend with than its achievements so far. The financial crisis whose basic contours were set before the PTI government took office ensured a faltering start for the rulers — and was perhaps rendered somewhat worse by indecision on the part of the PTI’s economic team.
The historic Supreme Court verdict that at long last delivered justice to a woman wrongfully sentenced to death led to a direct confrontation with violent religious extremists and caused the government to stumble badly. It remains to be seen if the crackdown in more recent days will continue apace or quickly lose steam.
Hostile governments in the US and India contributed to a difficult foreign climate, while Prime Minister Khan was forced to abandon his pledge to not travel abroad early in his term and had to tend to relations with Saudi Arabia, China and the UAE. The recognition of the importance of the foreign component of the prime minister’s job, though, is perhaps a positive development for Mr Khan.
But not all crises were externally imposed.
The continuation of a bruising style of politics has brought the PTI rulers in conflict with the opposition in parliament and has kept the coalition government in a more precarious political position than it ought to be.
Yesterday, Mr Khan mentioned legislation that his government intends to introduce in parliament, but legislation will not be possible without notifying committees and opposition support, particularly in the upper house. Similarly, Mr Khan once again touted the tourism potential of the country, including religious tourism.
The prime minister is right, but tourism is unlikely to take off when violent religious extremists can effectively shut down the country and paralyse transport network for days.
Finally, there is a contradiction in Mr Khan’s economic philosophy that could hamper his government’s medium-term plans: is economic growth about bringing back allegedly looted wealth stashed abroad, or is it about creating a business- and investment-friendly economic climate?
Corruption certainly inflicts a high and unacceptable cost on the Pakistani state and people, and poor governance is tied to corruption. But wealth generation is the most reliable and obvious path to lift millions of Pakistanis out of poverty.
Prime Minister Khan will need to sharpen his focus in the right direction.
Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2018
