AS the opposition is building pressure on the Government, Prime Minister Imran Khan moved to take his coalition allies on board on different issues. He hosted a luncheon in the capital for coalition partners, which was skipped by PML(Q) but attended by others.
The get together provided an opportunity to the ruling alliance to take stock of the prevailing political situation, governance issues and how to improve the delivery in the remaining tenure of the Government. Prime Minister Imran Khan reportedly told his coalition partners that after tackling some of the serious issues, he would now concentrate on providing relief to the people. Satisfaction of the masses is crucial for smooth functioning of the Government and the objective can only be realized if members of the ruling party and allies are frequently consulted and policies are framed on the basis of their input. Like cabinet meetings, coalition partners also complained about rising inflation and wrath of the people that the elected representatives face in their constituencies on this account. The position taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan at a meeting earlier in the day on the issue of price-hike and availability of food items was not tenable.
He maintained that availability of essential commodities and their price range is to be decided by provincial governments adding that it is due to the grievances of poor people that he took the task upon him to sort things out. Major decisions on issues concerning supply and pricing of essential items are taken at the federal level (including ECC and Cabinet) and even if the federal government is not responsible then what about PTI governments in Punjab and KP. Initiation and completion of development schemes also has much to do with the overall performance and delivery of a Government and PTI will have to identify programmes and projects of importance for people of different areas and take measures to implement them. Meetings with party-men and coalition partners afford an opportunity to have first-hand knowledge of what is happening on ground, which is often quite contrary to what is reported in official documents and reports. Therefore, the Prime Minister may consider holding interactive sessions with them on a regular basis to feel the pulse of the people. The luncheon also highlighted continuation of differences with PML(Q), which is a coalition partner both at the centre and in Punjab and its grievances will have to be given due consideration if the Government is serious in facing the challenge thrown by the combined Opposition. BNP (Mengal) has already parted ways with the Government, therefore, it cannot afford continued discord with PML(Q).
