Muhammad Usman
WITHOUT an iota of doubt, present opposition is a poor lot. It is incapable of taking a decisive action against government which could cause real anxious moments to it inside Parliament as well as on the street for enormity of reasons. This fact is even more conspicuous with PDM, lurking in lack of vitality, focus and direction massively. With its poor showing, point men of government have started making claims that there is no threat from opposition to PTI government. PDM has died its natural death. At face value, these seem true. The government could breathe freely with a sense of relief and satisfaction, however, real threat to it, continues to loom large. This lies in realm of its non-deliverance for moral and material welfare of the common people. Their plight is deteriorating markedly with each passing day in all spheres of their lives.
The Government of Imran Khan may have reasons for its continued failure but these people have limits. They have reached at edge of the precipice. They were clamouring for change when Imran Khan assumed power as a PM for change. Now they are becoming desperate fast for relief first. Probably this is the reason which has prompted Ch Shujaat Hussain to ask the government to shelve long-term development programmes and go for short term measures for provision of relief to people for rest of its tenure. It is a serious blow to change of Imran Khan if its need has arisen so. Possibly, majority view is largely identical. Now they want end to their miseries after having waited enough regardless of what a change involves in obtaining situation. It is not a matter of getting impatient because metric for every segment of society differs depending upon type/level of need they have.
The wait is always agonizing particularly, for biological need; food in hunger. It is more immediate and pressing. The wait could become precarious, even prejudicial and detrimental if hope does not remain in sight. Such a scenario is a threat for government of Imran Khan and his vision of change. This could provide enough powder to his political opponents to ignite public sentiments against him for having failed to materialize his heady promise of change and aggravating the situation in addition. There are a number of reasons for such a scenario. Some are of those which he inherited. Some are of his own making which mostly stemmed from the fact that he came to power ill prepared, ill equipped and unclear. Most glaring one was that he did not have team to steer through troubled waters which by no mean were uncommon to bring about the change.
On top of this, he failed to coup with deficiency at hand despite having time and opportunity. He relied upon worn out stuff or placed mediocre people on important portfolios. Most mind bungling example is of Usman Buzdar, a novice as CM Punjab. It is Panipat of Pakistani politics where battles of consequence are lost or won and his nominee still remains indefensible as CM. His FM was more interested in job of CM Punjab. Now he appears to have set his sight on CM of future province of Southern Punjab. His new Interior Minister also baffles one’s mind. Prior to assuming power, Imran Khan talked of placing 200 competent people on positions of impact to enable the country to take off economically, morally and socially. Nothing worthwhile has been seen on this score. Institutional reforms under Dr Ishrat Hussian yet to see light of the day.
Being captain of cricket team, he believed on brilliance born of merit but as PM, he has fumbled greatly. An army of stereotype people surround him who could tread path of status quo only. They can’t be the harbinger of change. Resultantly, change is fading however, for him, everything is not lost though his problems have multiplied. On one hand, he has to pursue long term programs to plant the change robustly. On other hand, he has to go for short term measures for provision of relief for livelihood and matters related to civil administration and maintenance of road networks/localities. This makes his job double and taxing. In difficult times, one could bet on capable people only. It is proverbially known that when going is tough, tough get going. He needs such people. More or less, his estimate of 200 capable people on important places is correct. Presumably, these were exclusive of political slots like cabinet and fall in category of bureaucracy and other big public enterprises. He needs to concentrate on these categories because these are the people who run the government. The cabinet is a decision making body and secondly, he cannot do much about it because of political constraints.
Within bureaucracy, he should find right people and fortunately, despite its decay/decomposition, such people are available but sitting on sidelines. A right eye is required to spot them. For public enterprises, he should hire honest and competent people. He needs to repose trust on them, give them time and authority to hire and fire and support them fully. No pressure be allowed to hinder with their working as has been seen nowadays even more often than not. They would build teams and capacity to translate his vision into reality. Undoubtedly, Imran Khan has a moral sense. In high office, it is rare and of vital importance but may not be of great use if not accompanied with a team of brilliant people.
— The writer, a retired Lt Col, is a senior columnist based in Islamabad.
