PTI manifesto

PTI Manifesto 2018, ‘The Road to Naya Pakistan’, has promises, pledges, undertakings, assurances and commitments spread over 61 pages, 14,640 words and 639 sentences. For the record, forty percent of the PTI’s mandated period is over.

Reforms: The term appears 66 times. Ensure freedom of the press (page 16). Reform FBR (page 26). Structural reforms (page 22). Civil service reforms (page 54). Legislative reforms (page 15). Government procurement (page 16). Police reforms (pages 2, 7, 13, 21, 23, and 56). Forty percent of the PTI’s mandated period is over. Honestly, is the PTI heading in the direction of reforms?

Economy: The term ‘economy’ or ‘economic’ appears 49 times. The manifesto promises ‘economic justice’ (page 6), the creation of 10 million jobs (pages 2, 4 and 27), ‘economic empowerment’ (pages 2, 19 and 21), a cashless economy (page 33), a knowledge economy (pages 2 and 34) and an ‘alternate economy’ (page 49).

Forty percent of the PTI’s mandated period is over. The truth about economic justice so far is that in 2018 around 31 percent of the population (roughly 70 million Pakistanis) was living below the line of poverty – and that number has since gone up to around 40 percent of the population or roughly 90 million Pakistanis (living below the line of poverty). Lo and behold, 90 million is a big number.

On the creation of 10 million jobs, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that Pakistan’s youth unemployment rate will “reach at least double the 2019 estimate.” Are we really heading towards a cashless economy? In 2018, currency in circulation stood at Rs4.5 trillion-and the same has since jumped to over Rs6 trillion.

Police: The word ‘police’ appears 21 times (pages 2, 7, 13, 21, 23, and 56). The promise was to “depoliticise and strengthen the police (page 2).” Have the police been depoliticised? Have the police been strengthened? The promise was to “bring about meritocracy and reforms in the police system (page 7)”. Is the PTI heading in that direction? The pledge was to “reform the criminal justice system and provide speedy access to justice (page 13).” Are we heading in that direction?

Karachi: The city of Karachi appears 18 times (pages 2, 20, 21 and 48). Here’s the promise: “We will transform Karachi into a vibrant competitive megacity through large-scale reforms in governance and with the provision of public services such as housing, mass transit, water and sanitation (page 20).” We will “transform Karachi (page 2).” We will “provide clean drinking to all Karachi residents (page 21).” How much of that has been achieved in the past two years? Any change in Karachi over the past two years?

Social services: The word ‘social’ appears 17 times. We will “Revolutionise Social Services (page 3).” Yes, there’s progress in the social sector. The budgetary allocation for ‘social protection’ has gone up from Rs2.3 billion in 2017-18 to Rs230 billion in 2020-21. Yes, never in Pakistan’s entire history has a government distributed cash grants to around 10 million deserving Pakistani families-a sum of around Rs100 billion. Congratulations.

Energy: The word ‘energy’ appears 12 times. We will “Fix Pakistan’s energy challenge (page 31).” We will “solve circular debt (page 31).” The fact – after the passage of two years – is that the circular debt has gone up from Rs1.1 trillion in 2018 to over Rs2.2 trillion. The fact – after the passage of two years – is that the electricity tariff has gone up by 50 percent.

Corruption: The word ‘corrupt’ or ‘corruption’ appears 12 times. Page 6: “PTI will end this corrupt and decaying system.” Please decide for yourself.

Page 7: “Naya Pakistan is a message not only of hope but of a promise by PTI....for all the people of Pakistan.” A promise is “a declaration or assurance that one will do something or that a particular thing will happen.”

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com Twitter: @saleemfarrukh