IN another time and place, the decision by Prime Minister Imran Khan to hand out half a billion rupees in development funds to each federal and provincial lawmaker of his party for carrying out schemes in their respective constituencies may not have attracted much public attention. However, considering the PTI’s previous stance on the issue, the move was bound to raise many an eyebrow. It was but natural that this ‘development incentive’ would be widely viewed as an attempt by the ruling PTI to keep intact its ‘vote bank’ in the face of growing complaints within the party, especially in Punjab, against the government for ignoring the needs of the legislators to ‘serve their constituents’. There is also a view that the decision was made because the ruling party was not very confident it could get the secret ballot replaced with a show of hands as the mode of voting in the Senate elections scheduled for March either through a constitutional amendment or a Supreme Court injunction.

It is common knowledge that successive governments in Pakistan have used development funds to keep members of the national and provincial assemblies happy and buy the allegiance of opposition lawmakers when needed. Also, strong evidence exists that rulers frequently distribute taxpayers’ money among their legislators ahead of the elections to win over voters. Such funds are allocated without any formal rules governing their utilisation and, hence, we have seen a significant increase in the throw-forward of development schemes previously. Many such initiatives are either left incomplete or scrapped after a change in government. This hardly benefits the people of a constituency. And so it is hardly surprising that Mr Khan has in the past vociferously criticised the policy of distribution of development funds among lawmakers. When in opposition, he repeatedly pledged to do away with this controversial practice on coming to power, saying the job of the members of the assemblies was to make laws and not get involved in the implementation of development schemes. Until now, he had resisted the pressure put on him by his party’s legislators. So what has made him change his mind halfway through his term in office? With the opposition moving ahead with its planned protests in an attempt to force the government to resign and pro-government lawmakers demanding their ‘share’ in development schemes, the turnaround in his views on the issue could be interpreted as his weakening grip on his legislators.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2021