Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that despite challenges and conspiracies hatched by the political opponents, the coalition government had successfully managed to put the country in the right direction in the shortest period of time. During his address to the nation, the Premier promised to hand over the reins of the government to caretaker setup in August. The Prime Minister noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme agreed by the previous government on the toughest conditions, was the biggest obstacle in the way of the country’s economic revival as the previous regime had brought the country to the brink of default by deviating from that agreement. According to him, despite anti-state conspiracies, the government did not loose its heart and succeeded to reach a staff level agreement with the IMF. The Prime Minister Shehbaz told that the deal inked with International Monetary Fund (IMF) was a moment for Pakistan to reevaluate its policies towards attaining the goals of financial self-reliance. According to him, the IMF agreement is not a moment of rejoice, but to assess the state of affairs as to how the country has become dependent on loans and foreign grants. The Premier expressed resolve to break the begging bowl, and urged the youth to come forward to take the country to new heights of development and prosperity.
The coalition government is near to complete it’s 14 months term and announced to hand over the state affairs to caretaker setup that will steer the country during the election season. Prime Minister Sharif blasted at the previous government for laying bomblets and destroying economy, sabotaging IMF program and creating hurdles for the coalition government in negotiating deal with the IMF in recent past. At the same time, Shehbaz recounted a long list of successes and acheivrments made by his government during the economic crisis, super floods, that also includes the preservation of civil liberties and human rights along with securing a $3 billion standby deal with the global lender. The Prime Minister vowed to throw away the begging bowl after the recent loan, which was the 24th claim of it’s kind by the successive Pakistani leaders over the past seven and a half decades. It reminds us the story of an hard dipsomaniac, who daily promised not to visit pub again but forgets his words and repeats that malpractice every other day.
At the helm of the most difficult and hardearned loan deal, Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed dismay over Pakistan’s dependence on foreign loans and charity grants, and set a voyage to politically important Southern Punjab after loan deal was okeyed by the IMF to invest in his political legacy through development projects and Laptop Schemes ahead of crucial election in the country. In fact, Pakistani leaders had always adopted a mistaken and politically motivated approach for economic revival in the country that often made insignificant gains and led to a recurrent economic meltdown in the past. Hence, rulers self evaluation is not less then self praising as they lack resilience to face criticism of the opponents and media.
Realistically, an unceasing hostility between warring political groups, and confusing statements of certain leaders from coalition government cast doubts regarding the holding of the next election by October this year. Although the Prime Minister announced to quit power by August 14, yet some circles forcaste an extension in the tenure of the caretaker setup on some technical grounds, which will surely not serve the national interests and would lead to further political uncertainty and choas in the country. There had been differences among the coalition partners over the timely arrangement of the next election, while the PTI Chairman demanded guarantees from the IMF delegation in reward for his support for $3 billion standby agreement with Pakistan. In fact, the election saga has become a matter of life and death for contesting political groups who use all tacts and tools to knock down each other in the upcoming general election.
In the current scenario, free, fair and timely election is the only war forward for Pakistan that will not only transition the political stability but also set stage for economic revival and industrial growth in crises hit nation. All stakeholders must demonstrate a responsible conduct while the ruling coalition and Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) must pause their hostility and fully cooperate with the Election Commission so a smooth and transparent election could be possible in due course of time. The Pakistani nation has suffered utmost from persistent political unrest and it deserves political tranquility and economic stability in the future.
