- One hundred days
Nobody expected PTI, despite its outlandish claims, to cover much ground in the first one hundred days of its government. But no legislation at all in three months, after promising to achieve and change so much in days, was not expected either. The only bit of House work the party has done so far is presenting the mini-budget – and patting itself on the back all the time since – but that too largely owes to the fact that the law did not necessitate approval from any committee in parliament or the Senate. Since they have not yet formed the required committees, there’s a good chance the budget would not have seen the light of day either.
It was PTI’s own agenda, after all, that led everyone to believe that the first few days would see rapid movement on the FATA-KP merger, bifurcation of Punjab, and reconciliation with alienated Baloch leaders, among other things. Instead, the House has been treated, repeatedly, to PTI ministers talking down the opposition and, quite literally, turning parliament into a circus. PM Imran Khan’s other promises, like the bi-monthly question time, etc, seem to have fizzled out as well. His other provocative claims, like disengaging with the ‘American imposed war on terror’ on the first day of government, seem to have gone the way of the enlightened U-turns that, according to Imran Khan, make a good leader.
This is not the first time that PTI has been unable to deliver on campaign promises. Back in the 2013 election, they made similar claims – of putting everything right in KP in 90 days – yet clearly learned nothing from what followed. While, again, three months is not quite enough time to judge a previously untested government’s performance, it still provides everyone with a direction of things to come. So far, unfortunately, if a trend has been formed it’s one of going back on promises and not caring for the fallout.
