AS people of Pakistan were unanimous in their opinion that the issue of price-hike has become number one problem of the country, the federal cabinet, which met in Islamabad on Tuesday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, deliberated upon and tried to highlight apparently non-issues, which seemed to be an attempt to deflect attention from the real issues of the people.
The meeting threatened to block funding for the next general election if they were not held sans the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs); held the Sindh government responsible for rising prices of essential commodities; once again resorted to the jittery comparison of prices with other countries; declined to accept findings of the audit in respect of irregularities in Corona funds; and gave cosmetic treatment to the issue of acute shortage of gas that has made life of the people miserable during the last few days.
No one can deny the fact that the use of EVMs in future elections has become a must following adoption of the relevant law by Parliament in its joint session recently but undue haste for implementation of this requirement is not understandable.
Both the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the Government have formed special high level committees to discuss different aspects of the legislation and how these can be given practical shape and it is not appropriate to adopt a threatening posture, which is seen as yet another attempt to pressurize the Election Commission that is, otherwise, considered to be an independent institution.
The legal requirement is something else and its practical implementation is quite different as it involved Herculean efforts to overcome numerous hurdles and plug all loopholes that could later become the cause of complaints about rigging and manipulation of the system.
If the constitutional requirement of adopting Urdu as the official language in 15 years remains unimplemented for the last 40 years due to practical difficulties, there is absolutely no justification to pressurize the ECP on this highly complicated issue.
Instead of resorting to diversionary tactics, the Government should better review its indifference towards inflation, which is again evident from its decision to keep prices of petroleum products unchanged for the new fortnight despite a significant fall in prices of oil in the international market.
Accusing Sindh government of price-hike amounts to maligning a part when the whole is not able to address the phenomenon.
The unattractive formula for reduction of electricity tariff on additional use in winter also loses its relevance as those whose purchasing power stands squeezed due to record inflation cannot dare use electricity as fuel.
