Will Dreams of “Naya Pakistan” ever materialize?

Ever Since the ruling  PTI Government came into power after winning July 25, 2018, General Elections and succeeded in forming governments at Centre and in the Provinces of KPK and Punjab, Coalition Government with  BAP in Baluchistan, They are still celebrating their victory after the Passage of two and Half Months.

IK’s Tall claims of bringing lasting change in the sectors of Energy, Economy, Health, Education, Environment, Local Governance, Foreign Policy and  Civil Service are vanishing with the passage of time since they have just started working on these sectors. Though on  Foreign Policy front , they have worked a lot and have been engaged in making an Independent Foreign Policy with  Saudi and Iran enjoying the central point and the age-long faithful friend  – China as Main  Economic Partner. The Experienced Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has  so far played  a vital role and  showed  the Ugly  face of India  before  the world  at recent UNGA meeting.

 

Though , PTI has  started meddling with CPEC ,yet  People in PTI ranks  are  of the view  that they are  just reviewing the  CPEC to remove anomalies  in the  corridor and  making it suitable  for  the  Baluchistan so that it may reap benefits  as Gwadar  Port is dubbed  as an economic hub for  the  Province of   Baluchistan and the CPEC –Game changer  for  Pakistan .

Luckily, Pakistan has got Saudi Arab joining the CPEC as Partner since  Saudi Arab is the great Oil exporting country and a member of OPEC. Hearing the announcement of  Saudi Arab joining CPEC , Trump took a jab at  Saudi Arab and made the hard statement that Saudi Government and Its  Crown Prince cannot live for two weeks without  US Support, This compelled Pakistani Government to take U-Turn and declare  Saudi Arab as  Strategic Partner instead of partner.

Well, All that happening with Amateurs in Government and Politics since PTI government is struggling to cope with a looming Energy crisis that has crippled the economy . Even the U-turn taken by the Government on Electricity and Gas Hike, has created the opportunity for the critics.   They just Bow down given the circumstances and the Public Pressure and Severe Criticism from opposition parties.

The Government is mulling over the Uniform Education Policy as The  Federal Minister of  Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood has said that Government is working on the uniform education policy to provide a level Playing field  for the youth of Pakistan.

There  are  several  challenges  to implement a Uniform Education System such as   every  Province  has  its own curriculum  Specially the   Sindh  having prescribed  the  curriculum in Sindhi language from  class  one  to Class Five  as  most of  Science , Mathematics and Social Studies books  are taught in Sindhi  language and English as Subject  at Primary level whereas  at Middle  , Secondary level, The choice of medium  is given to  the students  to answer the Questions  in exam in Urdu, Sindhi or English Language .

The Second biggest challenge is that after the 18^th Amendment, the Education and The Health have become the Provincial subjects so it would not be easy to introduce uniform Education system until amending the Constitution.

The Third biggest challenge is the Strong opposition  that is the hurdle to amend the constitution and to pass the bill of the Uniform Education system, PTI Government needs Majority in-house and support from Opposition parties without support from the opposition , Such gigantic tasks are impossible to happen.

PTI may expect support from PPP as  they had supported the Nominee of PPP in Senate  Elections as so far PPP had abstained itself from voting during  PM   Elections and had fielded their  own candidate Aitazaz Ahsan for Presidential Elections. Whereas  , MMA, JUI , ANP, PML –N are the strong critics of  IK and he  will never  approach them for support owing to their personal agitation on IK and  PTI and even party chiefs of these parties  termed  the  General Elections as  rigged and Manipulated  though the elections were held in a very peaceful manner under tight Security of Army and Rangers .

Imran’s recent Goodwill gesture of supplying the  40000 Ton wheat to Afghanistan is severely criticized by the PPP since Federal Government is clueless about the drought and famine in the Thar Desert since there was great loss of Lives including Man ,women and children due to severe drought and  shortage fodder for livestock, though the Federal Government  appears to be very keen in investing millions to generate electricity from Thar Coal with assistance of  China .

The tall claims of PTI are waning with each passing day since they have missed their targets which were set for 100 days. Their hundreds of promises, made with people during elections, are appearing an uphill task so far as they don’t seem to be serious in their pursuit and have failed to give clear roadmap.

The Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry’s untimely statements have further aggravated the situation as his u-turn based policy statements are misleading and may be counterproductive for the Opposition to hit back the government. The Punjab CM’s performance has been dismal so far as he has been engulfed in various contradictory issues such as influencing Police  and joy-ride on state-owned Copter with his family. The Situation in KPK and Baluchistan provinces is the same since no significant signs of change are witnessed that may make the basis of change in the offing.

The Government plan to overhaul the Local Government system in KPK and Punjab has materialized to some extent as they have succeeded in drafting  Local Governance System in above-mentioned Provinces , yet the change would be incomplete until it is implemented in all other provinces  including the Sindh, Baluchistan and GB.

The government should amend the constitution and make the Local government as the Federal subject like they have planned for Education and Health. They have already started the spadework to introduce Uniform Education System throughout the country by making education as Federal Subject.  The Process of making health as Federal Subject has not started as yet as the Great Medical Institutes such as JPMC facing various financial problems that have affected its performance.

The PTI Government also intends to bring Civil Service Reforms and the job has been assigned to the Taskforce on Civil service Reforms headed by a Former State  Bank Governor and  Former Director  IBA Karachi – Dr Isharat Hussain.

The analysts  are  of the view  that  as  Dr Isharat has already served  the same  role  of  Intuitional Reforms  in Musharraf Era  and Then Former PML-N Government, The  Performance has not remained satisfactory as  Dr Isharat Hussain is  an Economic and Finance  Expert , He  must have been attached  with the  Finance Minister  Asad Umar to help save sinking ship of  Economy as  the crisis has  become severe  .

It may be too early to predict the future of  “Naya  Pakistan” yet it is pertinent to give a roadmap for bringing such massive change in Top bureaucracy. As per the reports that the Sharif’s gave powers to their close Top Level bureaucrats to serve their interests at Federal Level and the current PTI Government intends to bring their own Close Top Level Bureaucrats to serve their interests. There is strong need to depoliticize Bureaucracy to improve their performance.

This may be an opinion or misconception about the bureaucracy but there is a strong need of grooming and training the civil servants, given the needs of the existing circumstances. PTI’s “Naya Pakistan” will not materialize without clear roadmap and planning. It would be imperative to put  the right person for the right job so that they may pave the way for the change and Make “Naya Pakistan”.