Winds of change

Has the wind of change begun to blow for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)? If change happens, it will be tangent to the one promised by the ruling party in its fierce election campaign a few years back and which had the masses so hooked in the 2018 polls. The change in the offing is one that the PTI should be wary of.

For seasoned analysts and keen observers of Pakistan politics, the tell-tale signs of a government’s gradual marginalisation have begun to appear on the horizon. It is indeed, a changed scenario altogether that the PTI has been confronted with today, which is a far cry from the heady honeymoon period that the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led ruling party had enjoyed for most part of its three-year term.

To recap, in the 2018 general elections, the PTI dealt Pakistan’s two major parties – the PPP and the PML-N – an electoral punch that knocked them out cold. It also threw up a leader in Imran Khan whose larger-than-life image and clear credentials resulted in a tectonic shift of political equilibrium in Islamabad and in the rest of Pakistan, rolling out a new political discourse, promising to usher in a new Pakistan; free from the clutches of its allegedly corrupt rulers of 34 years, the Sharifs and the Zardaris.

It was an open field for PTI, where it could do all things positive to uplift and rejuvenate a nation so disillusioned by its rulers whose coffers swelled at their expense and had the country sinking deeper into the quagmire of corruption and chaos. Imran Khan’s seemingly resolute stance to bring an avalanche of changes and reforms and his vision of making Pakistan a more powerful, prosperous country by reviving the revolutionary ideals with more economic equality was instantly bought by the Pakistani public.

The three-and-a-half-year rule of PTI at the helm, however, have destroyed some of the hopes and dreams that had had the 220 million people of Pakistan sold. Reeling under PTI’s poor governance that has led to cut-throat inflation, glaring foreign policy failures, severe economic downturn, sharp escalation in cross border attacks on the security forces and, last but not the least, the increasingly soured relations with the establishment have had the people of Pakistan discovering the hard way that PTI and PM Imran Khan, in fact, never really had a vision at all. They now feel cheated, as if hoodwinked into believing that country’s transformation is not a distant dream anymore.

Seldom in Pakistan’s 75-year history has a party shot itself in the foot as many times as the PTI. Any ruling party anywhere in the world would be seriously concerned at the series of electoral losses and setbacks in by-polls and local bodies elections within a span of a few months. But not PTI, where it appears nothing seems to ruffle any feathers.

The image of Nero playing the fiddle while his city goes up in flames pretty much pales in comparison to the level of ignorance displayed by PM Khan and his Cabinet. Many analysts are of the view that the ground is slipping fast from under PTI’s feet regardless of what its supporters like to believe. Even the successful approval of the Finance Bill in the Parliament on Thursday will not convince the people of the ruling party’s control over key matters.

As things stand today, PTI’s position appears precarious in the build-up for the 2023 general elections. What is the way forward? A Cabinet overhaul perhaps is the safest way out for the PTI. A wise set of advisors will surely do PTI and Prime Minister Khan a world of good. There is no dearth of wise men in the country; all it requires is earmarking them and then giving them a free hand. The ruling party will be well advised to optimise the agricultural and mineral resources to boost the economy and revive billion-dollar projects such as Reko Diq and many others that will surely help break the shackles of IMF and bring inflation down considerably.

PTI’s road to redemption lies in giving the common man substantial relief in the remaining one and a half years of its rule. Or else, the end is nigh.

The writer is News Editor, Bol News