- Mafias, those damn mafias!
It has taken the PTI government less than two years to prove the skeptics and cynics correct: the experiment has failed quite miserably and publicly. The comfort of blaming previous governments for the sheer lack of commendable performance or respectable governance efforts is fast becoming a luxury. The focus, of late, has shifted towards ‘mafias’ that are supposedly out to sabotage Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘vision for the country’.
There is a ‘media mafia’ that ‘reports negatively on the PTI government’s performance’, deliberately ignoring the positives. Does the PM expect only puff pieces and severe self-censorship from newspapers and TV channels because he is now in power? That sort of treatment, these days, is reserved only for those who are actually in power.
A food-hoarding mafia, responsible for the recent wheat and sugar crises, also exists according to the PM. This a problematic defence of poor planning and an embarrassing level of mismanagement across the board. Which mafia is the PM referring to here? In case he doesn’t have any names yet, a simple exercise of ‘following the money’ made when exporting and importing wheat and sugar would provide a fair indication of who is responsible. Perhaps he is fearful of that information, or maybe already has it and wants to sweep it under the carpet due to the people it really exposes. Either way, it’s a pathetic deflection from what has actually happened.
No one forced Imran Khan to become PM. He has been itching to wear that black achkan since 1996. Yes, there was a demand and space for a third mainstream political party and he certainly filled that with his self-made PTI, but no one forced him to climb onto the shoulders of the powers that be to ensure a questionable victory in 2018. The “it’s too soon to expect results” argument will simply not suffice anymore. It is time the PM stops projecting his failures on so-called mafias and governments of the past and deliver on the promises he made so emphatically without a plan on how to fulfill them. The buck stops with him
Now, there are apparently internal mafias trying to destabilise PTI’s provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab. Faced with a forward bloc of 20-odd MPAs in Punjab, demanding development funds that were promised, PM Khan had to rush to the province’s capital to pacify them. In KP, PM Khan had to fire three of his most revered MPAs that he had boasted about pre-elections as being the best of the best, after they attempted to stage a rebellion against the sitting CM in the province. Both fires were put out and the arson blamed on ‘organised mafias’; no contemplation on the reality that perhaps the CMs in both provinces are simply not cutting it and need to be replaced with more competent people.
Things aren’t much better at the centre either. Allies, so clinically pushed in the PTI’s direction, are now demanding their pound of flesh. The MQM(P) has resigned from the Cabinet but is keeping one foot in the game by not leaving the alliance, yet. PML(Q) leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Ch Pervaiz Elahi, in a candid meeting with journalists two days back, did not mince his words about how the PTI has mistreated him and his party. A third committee has now been formed to ‘resolve outstanding issues’. Speaker Elahi, much like his Sindhi counterparts, maintains that they want to give the PTI a fair chance at governing and don’t want to see them sent packing so soon.
When majorities are so razor thin, allies and independents have a lot of leverage to play with. It becomes all the more crucial then that the government, instead of its cabinet members merely enjoying the perks of important ministries, walking the corridors of power, keep its allies relatively happy. This has not happened and if it comes strictly to the matter of distribution of development funds, those at the bottom of the feeding pool might just jump ship in the next act. Of course, those who forced them to get on this ship in the first place could persuade them to stay, no matter what. Perhaps some records and files from cold storage have already been thawed and shown to an MPA or two to resolve the recent impasse.
This is a crucial year for PM Imran Khan; it really is make or break. He has promised a prosperous year, ignoring all macroeconomic indicators, forecasts and ground realities. He cuts a sorry figure by repeatedly asking everyone to wait patiently and endure through this temporary period of economic hardship. It doesn’t help matters when he says that even his own disposable income isn’t enough in the present economic climate. Unfortunately, it is impossible to vet unwritten speeches. One can only stare with bemusement at what he says at times, that too with a straight face.
Suffering patiently would be an acceptable task for the citizenry if true stability had been achieved by now or at least there was some light at the end of the tunnel in sight. Over a year and a half of monetary policy tightening later, there is no let-up in inflation to allow a decrease in interest rates. Choice figures that are presented to the public for consumption do not reflect the actual situation in households, business or industry. When the Finance Minister has no constituency to worry about, and the SBP Governor and Deputy Governor are IMF representatives, also not worried about any sort of election; the public perception will obviously lean towards the government not being in control of matters.
To be fair, the PTI did deliver, albeit without permanent results, in one field: ‘accountability’. The opposition-specific spectacle of arresting and harassing political opponents made for great entertainment, pandering to the PTI’s core base’s ill-conceived fantasies of a corruption-free Pakistan based on the lies they were told for over 10 years. The farce is exposed as the NAB, being an ineffective reckless bully, has finally been restrained, bails have been granted, arch-enemies were allowed to leave the country and investigations against members of government have started to gain momentum. There is no more air left in the corruption slogan as it has been overused to comedic levels. There is a limit to which the citizenry can be duped. Hypocrisy tends to stand out at some point.
No one forced Imran Khan to become PM. He has been itching to wear that black achkan since 1996. Yes, there was a demand and space for a third mainstream political party and he certainly filled that with his self-made PTI, but no one forced him to climb onto the shoulders of the powers that be to ensure a questionable victory in 2018. The “it’s too soon to expect results” argument will simply not suffice anymore. It is time the PM stops projecting his failures on so-called mafias and governments of the past and deliver on the promises he made so emphatically without a plan on how to fulfill them. The buck stops with him.
