Referendum time

I knew right from the start that Imran Khan’s party was going to win the 2018 elections. My biggest worry was that the PTI may not get majority and when I saw 116 seats on TV my first reaction was that this will be a useless government no matter what Imran Khan tries to do. This government is functioning exactly how I thought it would be – with all the wrong people in ministerial posts. Imran Khan had a vision, so when you see 40+ federal ministers then you know something is wrong. That's like one-third of winning candidates.

I have no suggestions for Imran Khan other than shifting the system to a presidential one using the support of the people of Pakistan. Nothing can stop him after he gets a win in a referendum. If Scotland can stay in UK and if UK can leave Europe on the basis of a referendum then there is nothing wrong with doing this in Pakistan. We have seen the Turkish model and how President Erdogan shaped that country. There are already rumours that the assemblies may be dissolved. Likely, the only thing stopping that is the IMF package and the investment that came in the last six months.

Sidra Alam ( Turbat )