PRESENTATION of federal and provincial budgets in the backdrop of Covid-19 related slow-down and resource constraint was already a daunting challenge for the ruling party but its woes have been multiplied by formation of Jehangir Tareen Group in the Punjab and National Assemblies.
Though Jehangir Khan Tareen (JKT) himself has declared that it is just a group of like-minded people, who have been wronged by the provincial government, and that all of its members remain steadfast members of the PTI but at the same time threats are being hurled about non-cooperation during passage of provincial and federal budgets.
JKT is facing sugar-related inquiries and cases and it is an open secret that the Group has been formed to pressurize the Government and apparently influence findings of Senator Ali Zafar on the issue of harassment of JKT.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who paid a visit to KP on Wednesday, declined to respond to political questions but, in his formal speech at an event, once again stated that all mafias have joined hands against him, reiterating that he will not give NRO to any one of them as the country could only prosper if there was rule of law.
No one would differ from the PM as people of Pakistan have had a bitter taste of manipulations by different mafias but unfortunately corrective measures have not borne fruit as yet.
With delicate numeric strength in assemblies, it makes a hell of difference for the Government to lose a few votes and, therefore, it is faced with the difficult choice of sticking to its principled stand of promoting good governance or ignoring some of the wrongdoings.
Differences within parties and among coalition partners is nothing unusual but wisdom demands these should not be made public and resolved through internal engagements and interaction.
It is all the more important that scams should not be publicized in a way that discourages prospective investors and those investing in different sectors of economy and contributing to the national exchequer should be treated with respect.
JKT group has not shut the doors of talks by announcing it would remain part of the PTI and, therefore, the Government should go for fence-mending on a priority basis to avoid any awkward situation.
