Limited success

Given the fanfare with which the PTI has marked Prime Minister Imran Khan’s first 100 days in power, one could be forgiven for forgetting that he has more than 1700 days to go. There is a limited amount one can accomplish in just three months and so the ‘achievements’ that the PTI government has been touting are largely aspirational. The prime minister has talked often of creating 10 million new jobs and constructing five million homes but given little indication of how these unrealistic targets will be reached. The government’s ability to create new jobs is limited, especially when it is practising austerity and will likely try to streamline the civil service. The housing plan is entirely dependent on the private sector, which has been hesitant to issue home loans in the past.

At his speech at the Convention Centre in Islamabad celebrating his government’s 100-day anniversary, PM Imran Khan spoke of launching a Poverty Alleviation Authority but did not explain whether new welfare programmes would be introduced or if he was just adding another layer of bureaucracy on top of existing schemes. It is this lack of clarity that has frustrated many and allowed the opposition to pounce on the government, with the PML-N issuing a white paper on the supposed failures of the PTI and PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari saying the PTI’s first 100 days in power were nothing but 100 days of U-turns.

To its credit, the PTI government has initiated some worthwhile campaigns. The tree-planting scheme is entirely unobjectionable and shows that the government is taking the environment seriously. The government has made shelter for the homeless a funding priority and has worked successfully with other countries to reach anti-money laundering agreements. On the foreign policy front, Imran has shown admirable appetite for peace with India. The problem is that we were promised a Naya Pakistan but the government seems only to be tinkering at the edges. It has made some bold pronouncements, such as offering citizenship to the children of refugees or creating a southern Punjab province, only to later backtrack. The PTI had set expectations sky high so it is unsurprising that it is now falling back down to earth. The way it has celebrated its 100 days in power, though, shows that it does not quite understand why people may be frustrated at the pace of change. For all its talk of a revolution, so far the current government has provided more of the same.