An evaluation of the performance of the federal cabinet which resigned on Wednesday after being in office for nearly three years is in order. All the more so after Prime Minister Gilanis claims regarding its successes. To many this would appear a one-sided narrative which needs to be corrected to keep the record straight.
Referring only to a surge in exports, increase in foreign exchange reserves and the Karachi Stock Exchange index and leaving out trends that nullify the positive impact of these developments is looking at reality with rose-coloured glasses. The budget deficit continues to increase, as do governments borrowings from abroad and local banks which have given a boost to inflation, making the life of the common man miserable. The NFC Award and the passage of 18th and 19th amendments bring as much credit to the government as to the opposition. The measures along with the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package have, however, failed to bring the largest province of the country to peace. Meanwhile, the law and order situation continues to worsen and the claims to have broken the back of the terrorists are being mocked by them in Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi. Little has been done in the last three years to improve governance. The government never went beyond changing the portfolios of cabinet members when confronted with evidence of corruption. A minister was removed only after the SC took notice of his misdoings. The government failed to rein in those spreading religious hatred or punishing those resorting to violence raising questions about its writ.
To be fair the administration was required to cope with the after-effects of some of the extremely harmful policies of the Musharraf era. It might have been possible for the new government to improve governance if the PPP-PML(N) alliance had not come to an end within months for which the PPP is mainly, though not solely, responsible. It subsequently inducted allies who had an altogether different agenda into the cabinet. The cabinet had to be expanded to cater to their unending demands and they continued to blackmail the party till the end. Forced by circumstances to have a lean and mean cabinet, and two of its troublesome allies opting out, the government has an opportunity to induct an efficient cabinet that can bring credit to it by the time the next elections are held.
