- The PM doth protest too much?
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s saying that his government’s problems are caused by some of his ministers, and that they spend too much time in Kohsar Market (in Islamabad) and not enough doing their job, begs a number of questions, even if one agrees with the analysis. It is to be assumed that Mr Khan himself chose them to serve as members of his team. It is possible that a PM might choose the wrong person or persons, but who retains them in their job? Under the system in force, the Prime Minister is not restrained in his choice of ministers, there being no individual ministerial vote of confidence, nor any process of committee approval, with the only restriction, that ministers be members of a house of Parliament, being ridden over roughshod by the appointment of advisers and special assistants. This whining does no honour to the office he enjoys.
Besides, this whining does not address the question of why he entered politics, which was surely a voluntary process. His hints that he was not entirely free in selecting his team is not credible in view of the insistence he showed in his cricketing days in having the final say on team selection when he was captain. His attempts to throw the blame elsewhere when things are not going well have led him in the past to blame his predecessors, and then to attack various mafias (which he shows no sign of unveiling), and then the press. Now, it seems, he is blaming those who are supposed to be his colleagues.
Taking things public will not be helpful if specific persons are named and shamed. A Prime Minister should know how to drop the incorrigible, and breathe a word in the ear of those who he believes can mend their erring ways. Mr Khan was voted into office by those who were impressed by his ability to put together a team that could deliver. Both his achievements before entering politics, winning the Cricket World Cup and building a cancer hospital, were predicated on proper selection of personnel. He should not use an excuse for which he has to say his strength is being exercised by someone else. And if so, who? That territory is so dangerous, he will not want to step there.
