Anomalous, to say the least
Political parties in Pakistan are taking time to properly run the administration. What is still lacking is consensus-building within the cabinet before taking important decisions. In KP Imran Khan is often accused of imposing his point of view on the provincial government. It was the PTI Chairman who first announced that his party was going to block the NATO traffic. Subsequently, a compliant cabinet rubberstamped the decision through a resolution in support of the blockade. The expulsion of the QWP ministers from the KP cabinet was also avowedly taken by Khan rather than the provincial CM. A similar practice has been followed in Sindh since 2008. Some of the most crucial issues like the type of LG system for the province have been decided not be the Sindh assembly or cabinet or CM but Zardari himself. The assembly was made to pass one LG bill only to reverse the decision within a short period at a nod from the PPP co-chairperson.
The most bizarre is the working of the federal cabinet led by PM Nawaz Sharif. It creates the perception at one hand of not knowing what the other is doing. Contradictory stands are taken sometime by cabinet members and government departments. A case in point is the reaction to the execution of JI’s Bangladesh leader, Abdul Quader Molla. Before the hanging took place, an FO spokesman told a news briefing that it was not Pakistan’s policy to interfere in the affairs of other countries. As JI tried to table a resolution against the execution, the Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Pirzada spearheaded the move to block the attempt. Ch Nisar however maintained that Mollah was hanged for his “loyalty and solidarity with Pakistan in 1971” and “remained a supporter of a united Pakistan” till the very end before the creation of Bangladesh. According to Nisar, “Today every Pakistani is saddened and grieved over his death.”
In yet another episode the SNGPL decided to suspend supplies to the industrial and compressed natural gas CNG sectors indefinitely on December 10. Five days later Ishaq Dar, and not the minister for natural resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced gas for textile industry for two days a week. On Friday Abbasi announced a hike in gas tariff. Three days later the PM declined to approve it. The change in the decision presumably emanated from political considerations ad appeasement of powerful lobbies which have consistently stood in the way of taking courageous economic decisions.
