Pakistan's Nawaz Regime: Sleepwalking through rough terrain

Aside from what Asif Ali Zardari has said about Nawaz Sharif and what Imran Khan wants to do on August 14, a sense is prevalent that something is wrong with the present government. At times it looks as if the people occupying its top slots are in a state of trance. Sleepwalking through rough and tough, the people of Pakistan contend with on daily basis. The promises so vociferously made by them before election are nowhere being honoured. Though even then nobody believed that on coming to power the Sharifs-led elected dispensation would be able to end the energy deficit ridding people of the lingering curse of loadshedding. That after a year of coming to power not only loadshedding continues, it has in fact exacerbated, forcing the yesterday's loudmouths to publicly confess their failure and seek divine forgiveness. The problem is too big they say now. Is it then that their pre-poll promises were sham, or is it that they lack competence and are incapable of comprehending the enormity of the problem of loadshedding? There is this demon of circular debt that refuses to be tamed; energy thieves are on a permanent parole; and obsolete transmission and distribution system is the main problem. It is unacceptable in any modern democracy that those jockeying for power are so profoundly ignorant of the affairs of the state they hope to govern. As the country sizzled in mid-40s temperatures power deficit rose to several thousands megawatts, a figure hitherto known. That a year on the runaway inflation has been contained, merit is being given due recognition, law and order situation has improved. No, none of these happened. Balochistan remains ungovernable, as much courtesy the ongoing proxies war of our 'friends' as for unending politicking with every second politician wanting to be a minister if not chief minister. As for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, there is this unending Centre-province confrontation on almost every issue. In Sindh, the relationship between the province and Centre is apparently friction-free - until, perhaps, Asif Ali Zardari's statement about the credibility of the 2013 elections.

With all this turmoil making for the backdrop one gets the eerie feeling as if the entire system is unravelling. No wonder then there is this demand for fresh elections. Indeed, political stability is critical to the success of an elected government, but provision of a snap election is also an irreplaceable part of every working parliamentary system. Electoral mandate is no licence; it is a responsibility. How come Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif remained nonchalant for several weeks about the continuing absence of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali from the parliament during these critical times? As a parliamentary opposition you have the liberty to duck harsh decisions by playing tricks with people's hopes and concerns; but, as a government your responsibility is to plan and deliver. But that is not happening. God knows why the 'visionaries' in the Sharifs governments - and they are many - would like to see beyond what is actual on the ground. For instance, take the case of an under-construction Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro-bus project. Of the traffic load between the twin cities, the Murree Road, which is being upgraded, takes not more than 35 percent, rest of the 65 percent lies through Islamabad Highway, Kashmir Highway and from Barakahu Township. Just by activating the Rawalpindi-Islamabad rail link the load on Murree Road could be cut by half. This and other such mega projects can be put off for the time being and money thus saved is used to improve the energy supply system. It's time the government should collect itself, shun procrastination, and confront the challenges head on. Should the habit of delaying and postponing crucial decisions persist the danger is that whatever little improvement has taken place in financial and investment sectors will melt away under the weight of political uncertainty and a woeful lack of clarity. Let the opposition politicians say whatever they want to say; it is their right. But the government is expected to respond not by words but by actions. And people are the judge. They want to know what stops the government from appointing permanent heads of scores of high offices in government enterprises. And why many of the appointments made by the government have been rejected by the courts on legal grounds. It doesn't behove a government anxious to complete its term to run its affairs in an ambience that is largely characterised by ad hocism.