From reforms to status-quo

The PTI government has completed its two years in power. The party had made tall claims before and during the election campaign to reform the system and to bring change.

However, the last two years of the PTI government were a big disappointment for all those who wanted to see serious reforms in the country. No real progress has been made on police reforms to change the ‘Thana culture’ in Punjab. No real initiative has been taken to reform the judicial system and criminal justice system.

The current government even failed to kick-start meaningful reforms in its first two years. Despite all the rhetoric of change and Naya Pakistan, PTI government it proved to be another government of the status quo as far as its economic policies are concerned.

Instead of implementing the reforms agenda, the PTI government chooses to pursue the traditional policies that worked well for the interests of the ruling elites. The sugar crisis, wheat crisis and petrol crisis are examples of the fact that the forces of status-quo are thriving under the PTI government.

An army of ministers has been holding daily pressers to highlight the successes of their government in the last two years. Many people want to believe what the government ministers are saying but there is one small problem – there is a big difference between the government’s claims and the realities of everyday life.

The government claims that the media is free and democracy is thriving. But the reality is to the contrary. The media is under immense pressure. Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s arrest in a NAB case is one such example. The space is shrinking for critical thinking and dissenting voices, and intolerance has increased in society.

Ordinary Pakistanis are facing rising inflation, corruption, unemployment and poverty. In fact, their living conditions are worsening and their real incomes are declining. Young people are finding it hard to get jobs.

According to joint research of the ADB and ILO, 1.5 million young people have already lost their jobs and 2.2 million young people could lose their jobs in the next six months. We were told that reforms in the key areas of economy and governance would immediately be launched. We were also told that the PTI had completed the homework for reforms and experts were ready to initiate the reforms.

Many PTI supporters and leading analysts, political commentators and columnists supported Prime Minister Imran Khan for the reforms agenda. The problem was that their enthusiasm was misplaced. Now they are criticising the government for not initiating reforms till now.

The problem is that serious reforms in the economic, social and administrative structures need serious thinking, policies, strategy and homework. Unfortunately, the PTI lacks all three.

I pointed out some of these problems in my column published in these pages on September 7, 2018: ‘A disappointing start’. This was written three weeks after the PTI government was formed. Here are a few paragraphs from that column two years ago.

“It has been a disappointing start for the PTI government as there appears to be no serious agenda for reforms beyond the symbolic, meaningless and superficial measures it has taken so far.

“This is not to question the intentions of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government. But when the country is faced with economic, social, strategic, and regional challenges and the new government decides to devote attention to the expenditure of the PM House, protocol, and the menu for cabinet and other high-level meetings, its actions are bound to raise questions.

“I will be more than happy to see our PM living in a small house and travelling in a small car without much security protocols. But I can wait a bit longer to see that. What I want to see is a change in the repressive and exploitative socioeconomic system.

“The people want the government to concentrate on issues related to poverty; unemployment; educational and health woes; judicial, civil service and police reforms; social justice; inequality; and exploitation. They want to see a new direction in terms of policies.

“When PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced his party’s programme for its first 100 days in power before the July 25 elections, it was believed that his party had done its homework to implement its agenda…. But it seems that the PTI is struggling to address economic and administrative problems.

“The formations of various taskforces and committees on a daily basis to address problems and devise solutions are a clear indication of the PTI leadership’s failure to identify key challenges before the general elections.

“The PTI leadership has repeatedly stated that it has the best team to steer the country out of crises. But most of the taskforces and ministries are headed by members of previous governments. Most of the technocrats who have been allotted government positions were part of General Musharraf’s regime while others even served in the PML-N’s previous government.

“When the PTI was in the opposition and criticised the then PML-N government, its leaders claimed that they had suitable alternative policies to fix the system. But the first two weeks of the PTI’s tenure have revealed that the party is not fully prepared to face challenges on multiple fronts. It lacks a clear strategy and direction.

“…. Industrialisation is still a distant dream. Land reforms and the modernisation of agriculture are necessary to reduce rural poverty and transform rural Pakistan. The desire to reduce poverty and unemployment cannot be realised without investing in efforts to increase the productive capacity of the industrial and agricultural sectors.”

The writer is a freelance journalist.