Imran Khan cannot play Trump in #Pakistan. - Imran Khan and parliamentary system

• A square peg in a round hole creates problems

Imran Khan wants to rule like President Trump who is not obliged to attend the Congress and is free to induct or kick out heads of government  departments  at will.  Imran Khan  is required instead to act like the PM in a parliamentary democracy who along with his ministers is answerable to Parliament. This irks the PTI chief.

The way the PTI government is functioning exposes Imran Khan’s disdain for parliamentary form of government. He remains mostly absent from NA sittings despite an earlier undertking to respond to MNAs’ questions every week during what was supposed to be the “PM’s hour.”

Imran Khan holds cabinet meetings too frequently which  the ministers are obliged to attend even if  they have to  neglect parliamentary committees where they are required to defend government policies.  In the latest incident   of the sort Asad Umar and the entire team of the finance and revenue  divisions absented themselves from a scheduled meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. This led  the Senate panel to reject three key proposals in the  finance second amendment bill 2019.

The country  is being run by the PM and his kitchen cabinet from Islamabad. The Punjab and KP are  being micromanaged by the PM with the help another team of confidants directly from Banigala. The parliament and two  provincial  assemblies have thus been made redundant. Attempts are now in the offing to conquer Sindh that remains outside the kingdom. PTI MPs are being told to demand  the resignation of chief minister Murad Ali Shah despite the PPP enjoying an overwhelming majority in Sindh Assembly. Attempts are being made to create a forward bock in the PPP’s  lawmakers. Meanwhile ways and means are under consideration to somehow or other get the 18th amendment revoked so that the center can have access to a major chunk of funds by reducing the shares of the provinces.

This has sent alarm bells ringing in Sindh. Bilawal has threatened with a long march while Zardari who  initially wanted  the PTI government to complete its tenure is predicting  the end of Imran Khan’s rule in next six months. Imran Khan cannot play Trump in Pakistan.