Citizens’ portal

E-complaints are the first step towards governance reform that the PTI government is taking. The objective is to both receive complaints against departments as well as feedback on major policy decisions. Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the app-based service this past Sunday, with the promise that more traditional methods of feedback such as telephones, email and letters would also be entertained. The Pakistan Citizens’ Portal will be based at the PM Office itself with the objective of creating a direct link between the PM and the public. Putting aside questions over whether it would improve service delivery and lead to better policymaking, one must ask what this means for how the PTI understands governance reform.

To start with, the creation of complaint cells fits into the party’s broader discourse on corruption being the single reason why people suffer. If there is no corruption, everything would be hunky dory. This is an incorrect assumption. Much of the issues within government departments come from the actual policies being biased in favour of particular groups, usually holding stronger economic positions. This formula is a function of the broader logic of government departments, which remains wedded to an anti-people colonial ethos. Provided that both of these issues are resolved, the ability of a particular department to resolve a complaint depends on something far more basic: funds and resources.

The last two of the above the PTI has withdrawn after cutting development spending and departmental budgets by almost 40 percent. Which begs the question: if government departments are no longer tasked with development, what are they there for? The answer is not difficult if one understands how the World Bank and IMF have advocated a new role for governments since the 1980s. Governments exist merely to facilitate investors. It is no surprise that PM Khan spoke about how the Citizens Portal would create a ‘conducive environment for investment.’ The example Khan gave spoke volumes: of how Turkish President Recap Erdogan had made a specific complaint cell for investors in his office. Whether the said cell was effective or not could be a legitimate question to ask – given Turkey’s current economic troubles – but this is beside the point. The point is to do things, to make a show out of it, to pretend that change is coming, while actually taking the carpet out from beneath one’s feet. How can e-reform go hand in hand with reducing departmental development budgets? This could be more in line with the official app for Indian PM Narendra Modi, which mainly serves as a propaganda tool. One would hope that PM Imran Khan and the PTI would do better than to repeat the same legacy of clueless populism we are seeing across the border. Based on current performance, it is difficult to hope for any better.