AS unending political tension was a constant source of concern for saner elements of the society who care for the future of the country and its people, Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Thursday, made remarks that convey a possible change of hearts for the sake of national solidarity and harmony. Addressing a gathering of civil servants, he said decisions in democracy are made with mutual consultations and that changes in the NAB law have been introduced to insulate bureaucracy from unnecessary fear and make business easier.
The reconciliatory tone of the Prime Minister was substantiated by some practical moves taken by the treasury side to enlist support of the opposition parties for crucial legislation. The Government changed its earlier course of seeking reversal of the Supreme Court decision in the case of extension in service of the incumbent Army Chief and instead adopted the legislative path as suggested by the Supreme Court, avoiding possibility of any tension or clash with the judiciary and making the issue controversial and complicated. The change of strategy meant approaching and contacting PML(N) and PPP for cooperation in the passage of the amendments to Army Act and the two parties did not disappoint. PML(N), on the direction of its top leadership, assured unconditional support for the law on the plea that the position of COAS should not be made controversial while PPP only wanted to go through the normal legislative process instead of its passage in indecent haste. The Government is also hinting at accommodating the viewpoint of the opposition on the issue of amendments to accountability law. All this augurs well not just for passage of two important pieces of legislation and much-needed harmony at the level of Parliament but would surely help reduce the overall political tension and bitterness in the country. One would, therefore, welcome the remarks of the Prime Minister that consensus and parleys are part of democracy but at the same time it is hoped that this would not be a one-time affair. We have all along been emphasizing in these columns that the kind of threats and challenges facing the country at internal and external fronts are such that no one party or leader can deliver satisfactorily irrespective of his charisma and popularity. The country and its people always gained when political parties and their leadership sunk differences, held threadbare discussion on important issues and forged consensus to address and tackle them. This we also saw in the case of the strategy to check the menace of extremism and terrorism as Parliament gave comprehensive guidelines to the Government to take a multitude of measures for the purpose. The incumbent Government has ambitious agenda for welfare of the people but there is general perception that it could not move effectively towards its implementation because most of the time it remained entangled in unnecessary tension with the Opposition. There is realization on the part of the Opposition as well about the need to have a Charter of Economy so that the country moves ahead on the path of growth and development irrespective of who is in power and which also means there would be no leg pulling from the Opposition once policies and programmes are framed and launched with consensus. Positive move always have salutary impact on the overall economic environment and this was again visible following reconciliatory moves by the Government. The stock market soared on Thursday, continuing its rally from the previous day, with the benchmark KSE-100 index closing at 42,480 to register a rise of over 1,080 points (2.54 per cent). Combined with Wednesday rally, the market rose 4.28pc or 1,745 points in the first two days of the New Year. We agree with the Prime Minister that there should be wealth creation, industrialization and focus on development of agriculture but so far complementary steps are not visible to realize these objectives. An end to uncertainty and instability would surely boost confidence of the local and foreign investors leading to picking up of the economic activity. It is hoped that the environment of cooperation and consensus would be carried forward both at the platform of Parliament and outside. There is also a change for the better as far as choice of topics and words on the part of the Prime Minister is concerned, who did not use old vocabulary in his latest speeches. The Opposition too should shun rhetoric and extend a helping hand whenever a genuine move is taken for progress of the country and well-being of its people.
