- Imran Khan has to stay the course now
It was courageous on the part of Imran Khan to order an unprecedented countywide crackdown on electricity theft. One would agree with the prime minister that it is unacceptable to make people pay for the cost of a crime committed by others. The success of the move depends on the steadfastness of the federal government, efficiency of the bodies which are supposed to implement the order and help provided to them by the respective provincial administrations.
That electricity theft was taking place on a large scale was widely acknowledged. It was also understood that the crime was being committed with the help of the lower staff in the power distribution companies in connivance with the higher-ups in the department. The previous governments simply ignored the elephant in the room.
Both the PPP and PML-N administrations let the malpractice continue as they feared the electoral backlash from tens of thousands involved in the theft. In the case of the PML-N, it avoided taking strict action in Punjab which it considered its political stronghold and found other provinces uncooperative as the parties ruling them were equally unwilling to lose support of a large chunk of voters. The crude and sometime provocative statements from Abid Sher Ali helped the smaller provinces give the issue a parochial turn.
It goes to Imran Khan’s credit that he has taken the bull by the horns in the wider national interest. The PTI government rules Punjab and KP while it enjoys the support of the coalition ruling Balochistan. It has also emerged as the party commanding the widest political support in Karachi, the capital of Sindh. As it is difficult to identify Imran Khan with any single province, he can more easily tackle the four distribution companies which have incurred the largest losses during the last two years, two of these located in Sindh and one each in KP and Balochistan. One will wait to see how efficiently the PTI government implements the PM’s orders. One expects Imran Khan not to yield to pressures that are likely to be exerted by party members and allies.
