Caretaker Commerce and Industries Minister Gohar Ejaz was on home turf when he received a delegation of textile exporters at All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association House in Lahore, which he told that the Commerce Ministry had a plan for boosting exports to $80 billion in 90 days. Considering that 2022-2023 exports were pitched at $21 billion, it would appear an ambitious target. Mr Ejaz did not say how this target was to be achieved, beyond saying that the textile exporters should concentrate on value-added products, and that the government would set up business parks. However, this highflier seems to have misunderstood the nature of his task. He has not been brought in to revolutionise the country’s trade, but to ensure continuity in governance until elections are held. His meeting the delegation is an example of this. Ministers are supposed to meet such delegations, and there is no reason why all of the government is to come to a standstill pending elections. However, Mr Ejaz would do well to remember that his primary task as a caretaker minister is to ensure that elections take place within 90 days.
Under the constitutional scheme of things, there is no other task before him. There is no compulsion to increase exports, as his is not an elected government. He is there to give political direction if, say, there is a strike at one of the state-owned enterprises under the Industries Ministry. It so happens that the ministries allotted to him take advantage of his life-experience, but the caretaker government is no Ministry of all The Talents, meant to solve all the country’s problems in the next 90 days.
Or does the caretaker government have more than 90 days? The caretaker government seems to be taking a longer view of matters ever since the Election Commission of Pakistan announced that it would carry out delimitations first. The idea of a ‘technocrat government’ has long been a cherished ambition, not least of those who would otherwise not hold ministerial office. It has been tried often enough, and it has never worked. The temptation to hang on to office might be considerable, and of appearing indispensable might be immense, However, the caretaker ministers should be selected so that they can resist the temptation, get on with their jobs, hold elections in 90 days, and go home.
