- 2020 make or break year
As the year draws to a close, there is nothing much to cheer about except a perennial economic downturn and incremental threats to democratic values and media freedom. The prime minister last Thursday while addressing a public meeting roared that there was a mafia in the newspaper industry that was writing against the government on a daily basis since he had closed the door to their corruption.
According to Khan some journalists who made money and derived other benefits from the old system are against the government. He should name and shame such corrupt elements in the media instead of tarring the whole journalist community.
The harbinger of change has now promised that 2020 will be a year of progress and consolidation. The “New Pakistan” that was supposed to usher the country into a fresh era of economic development and pristine moral values hitherto has proved to be a damp squib.
Unfortunately, corruption has become a tag to malign those who are critical of the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) government. Whether it is the opposition politicians, independent journalists or even judges belonging to the superior judiciary, any institution or pillar of the state crossing the red line is deemed as being on the take.
On the other hand, throughout the year the beleaguered opposition has been unable to get its act together. Granted, that the two main opposition parties namely the PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) and the PPP (Pakistan Peoples Party) have been at the receiving end of the stick.
They are being hounded by the NAB (National Accountability Bureau) along with a rejuvenated FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) under the aegis of its controversial director general Wajid Zia. Sadly, the ANF (Anti-Narcotics Force) has also joined the fray-as in the curious case of Rana Sanaullah.
The Sharif brothers while heading the rump of the opposition have been giving mixed signals throughout the year. Initially after being ousted the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam had adopted a hard-line not only against the government but were also extremely critical of the establishment.
The hawkish narrative of the PML-N gradually dissipated. Maryam who was banned from live coverage for her highly critical narrative after being granted bail suddenly became mum.
Unfortunately, corruption has become a tag to malign those who are critical of the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) government
Her twitter account that she very frequently used became dormant. Suddenly Shehbaz Sharif who was shunned both by the elder brother as well as the niece became the dominant face of the Party. His soft line towards the military leadership became the new mantra of the Sharif family.
Post October Sharif was shifted to the hospital from Kot Lakhpat Jail after his blood platelets suddenly dropped putting Shehbaz clearly in the driving seat. He is credited for facilitating his brother to be allowed to proceed to London on the pretext of urgently needed treatment.
Ironically, ‘critical Sharif’, comfortably ensconced in his grand Avenfield London apartment has not spent a single night in the hospital. Khan is ostensibly furious giving the impression that he was conned to let Sharif go.
It is no coincidence that the younger Sharif who not only heads the party but is also the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly is also staying back in London on the nebulous excuse that he has to tend to his ailing brother.
The irony could not have been entirely lost on the PML-N leadership that while their leader is enjoying London virtually doing nothing, they are being hounded by the PTI government. Most of them are either in the slammer or facing the wrath of the NAB or FIA.
Both the PML-N and the PPP only benignly supported the JUI-F (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam) chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman’s dharna that ended in November without a whimper. The top leadership of both parties remains ominously absent from the joint opposition forum- the so-called Rahbar Committee.
The PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari also has been released on medical grounds. Admittedly, Bilawal Bhutto, politically very active, is taking a belligerent line against the PTI government. But at the same time, he is careful not to ruffle any feathers in the GHQ (General Headquarters).
The most important phenomenon of the year is the reassertion of an independent superior judiciary. The former chief justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa virtually at the twilight of his term limited the tenure of the COAS general Qamar Javed Bajwa to six months pending the parliament enacting the rules for extension and appointment.
This was indeed another first in the troubled history of civil-mil relations of the country. A special court convicting former dictator General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf for high treason also happened on justice Khosa’s watch.
The government that is bent upon its vindictive agenda is not taking the risk of settling the matter of the COAS extension through parliament. It has gone for a review petition instead, terming former CJP’s verdict as legally flawed. The leader of the opposition in the National Assembly perhaps deliberately absent from the scene is ominously not taking any position on the issue.
By defanging NAB through a presidential ordinance the government betrays its dismissive attitude towards the parliament that remained dominant throughout the year. It simply does not want to engage the opposition considering it something below the bloated ego of the prime minister.
Perhaps the opposition, especially the PML-N, reckons that Khan is failing in any case. Hence sooner or later the PTI government’s mentors will be forced to change horses.
That is why the so-called ‘minus-one formula’ is being bandied about. Quite obviously Shehbaz Sharif is positioning himself as the alternative leadership.
But as they say, “If wishes were horses beggars would ride.” At best, At be-AtaSharif can take credit with his interlocutors for successfully silencing his brother and niece. But that the PTI government has lost support of its backers is assuming too much at this stage.
However, going by the law of averages no elected prime minister has been able to complete his term of office. Why would Khan be an exception?
The kind of tail winds Khan has enjoyed from the military leadership his predecessors could only dream of. Regrettably he has squandered this support on quixotic crusades against the opposition and hair-brained schemes.
The next year will be seminal for the PTI. The government has been successful in stabilising the economy to an extent, by implementing the IMF conditionalities.
However, according to the international lending agency’s first quarterly report, there are shortfalls in many of the areas vital for the economy including the energy sector, circular debt and revenue collection. Unfortunately for the proverbial common man-that any elected government worth its salt is supposed to serve- it is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet.
Merely making empty speeches promising the moon will not do. Khan has to deliver, that so far he has been unable to.
