On government’s lacklustre performance

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For once Imran is spot on

Whatever eccentricities Imran Khan is inflicted with, one thing that is universally true about him is that he speaks out his mind loud. Despite not being right on every issue, and sometimes he takes a populist route instead of a democratic one, he sure has raised his voice and thrown his weight behind some issues that are so often overlooked. The other day he took the government to task on some issues that are important for everyone, not just politicians.

Sounding like someone who was bitten once and is shy to try twice, Imran Khan demanded the other day that the Local Government polls be held under the supervision of judiciary, implicating that he doesn’t trust the Election Commission of Pakistan with the job. Imran’s stance makes sense as the government’s recent actions don’t inspire much trust in its ability to remain unbiased. Only a few days ago the government fired Tariq Malik, Chiarman NADRA, who was conducting an inquiry into electoral malpractices in at least four constituencies, two of which involved PML-N leaders, including that of the incumbent Speaker National Assembly. The PTI supremo also sounded just about right on economy, and the rising inflation in the country, on which he says he will launch a protest from next Sunday. The country isn’t making any progress in the economic and financial front. Clearing out circular debt and bringing down the prices of tomatoes and onions is not sound economic policies. The country needs more than that, much more than that. On the rise again, inflation is in double digits which the previous government was able to bring down to less than seven percent. But this is something on which the government can be given a leeway considering it has only been in the driving seat for just six months, but it should have prepared a solid policy on handling the issues that plague our economy. That is where it has failed, yet again.

Interestingly, the PPP’s younger generation of leaders, Bilawal Bhutto and Aseefa Bhutto, have come out in support of Imran Khan, Bilawal on his stance on inflation and Aseefa on Khan’s avowedly stated position on campaign against polio which he says he would lead himself in the KP province. Imran Khan’s brand of politics is different than that of the ruling PML-N’s and the public support seems to favour Imran. If the government doesn’t improve its performance, it is going to face an even tougher competition from the PTI than it did in the last elections.