How Imran Khan will effect change in first 100 days

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has unveiled a 21-member federal full of personalities he has described as “change leaders”.

In the PTI agenda for the first 100 days of government announced during the election campaign, Khan announced he would “select a cabinet of change leaders” to ensure the implementation of his agenda of change.

While most of the names of Khan’s cabinet ministers were previously associated with General (R) Musharraf and Q-League, the PTI agenda had promised “Imran Khan has track record of building teams that win, and he will bring that approach to how he will select his team to run the country.”

Critics have already started questioning the portfolios being allocated to certain ministers designate. Many insist that a number of the appointments are tantamount to fixing a square peg in a round hole. As per Khan’s 100-day agenda, “PTI’s cabinet will consist of people with leadership ability, with professional experience, and the highest standards of integrity, to steer Pakistan through its journey of change.”

The MQM’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui would be the Information Technology Minister. Former chairperson of the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at the Quaid-e-Azam University, and an expert on defense and international relations, Dr Shireen Mazari has been given the Human Rights Ministry, while former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Pervaiz Khattak has been designated the Defence Minister.

Babar Awan, Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, Fawad Ahmad, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and all others, named for the cabinet, are lucky to have qualified as what Khan called “people with leadership ability, with professional experience, and the highest standards of integrity”. Imran Khan, during an interview, however, had said that it is the captain that leads the team, and success depends on his strategy.

Regarding the implementation of its 100-day agenda, the PTI had committed: “Any agenda, no matter how good on paper, will only have impact if implemented well. Implementing change in government is messy, hard work that requires resolve, capability, as well as constant learning and adaptation. We believe we are ready to implement an agenda of change, better than anyone else in Pakistan, because we have the highest aspirations; we have a team, led by Imran Khan, including some of the best political and professional talent in the country; and we now have experience of government that we will build on. We will release further details of our implementation plan over the next few weeks, but broadly, Imran Khan’s government will ensure the implementation of this agenda through the following actions."

The 100-day agenda said: "Imran Khan will select a cabinet of change leaders. Imran Khan has a track record of build teams that win, and he will bring that approach to how he will select his team to run the country. PTI’s cabinet will consist of people with leadership ability, with professional experience, and the highest standards of integrity, to steer Pakistan through its journey of change."

The PTI agenda promised the Prime Minister "will personally oversee reform and manage the performance of his team. In line with how great reform journeys have happened elsewhere, the reform process will be led by, and personally overseen by Imran Khan himself. Key items on the reform agenda will be reviewed on a monthly or on a quarterly basis. Any challenges will be unblocked. Progress, both of the agenda, and of the performance of key ministers, will be based on a few key metrics, so that honest and fact-based discussions can be had on the pace of progress. We will ensure that change happens, not just because we will plan, but because the PTI team in government will be constantly working on implementing that plan."

The agenda said a Reform Unit would drive change in the Prime Minister’s Office. "To support the process of reform, in addition to the cabinet, Imran Khan will create a small team of reform leaders, champions and experts to help achieve his vision of transforming the country, as part of a high-performance reform unit in his office. This team will consist of the best professional talent that Pakistan has to offer, whether elected, from a government background, or a private background."

"We will run Pakistan’s most transparent government," the PTI agenda unveiled by Khan said.

"Government in Pakistan has often underachieved, because what it is normally doing is not visible to the public. We will create Pakistan’s most transparent government, to give our citizens a clear view of what is working and what isn’t. Progress on key priorities will be made public every three months, so that the people of Pakistan, the real stakeholders of change, are part of our journey of reform.”