Hassan Khan
The lengthy boring speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan at the
pompous ceremony marking 100 days of Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf in office, no
doubt, reminded the listeners such rhetorical utterances once made by Altaf
Hussain – chief of Muthahida Quami Movement- to a similar captive audience.
To sum it up in a sentence, the speech made by Prime Minister Imran
Khan to a locked up audience was high in rhetoric and very much low in
substance.
It does not seem that a prime minister of a country with 200
million population making serious statement at an important ceremony. It was
more like an angry opposition leader bombastically speaking with lowly references;
counting on the problems faced by the people for which he was simultaneously
accusing others for not delivering.
As said, listening to the long-drawn-out speech of Prime minister
Khan - both its contents and spectacles brought in one minds the scenes when MQM
supreme leader Altaf Hussain was making long boring sermons to an audience which
once nicknamed by Imran Khan himself as ‘dead human elements’.
Truth of the matter is that any political government irrespective
of political affiliation would have struggled hard to make certain visible achievements
in its first 100 days in office. So PTI or Imran Khan was not any exception.
However, as to its character, the PTI’s extraordinary haste of
demonstrating the people that its government was quite prepared in advance for meeting
the demands of high office not only put undue pressure on administration, but also
needlessly raised expectations of people.
The political opposition is right when it say that no body told the PTI to deliver in 100 days. It’s a fact the target was set by the PTI itself promising
to deliver and achieve visible changes on the ground both in improving the
system of governance and bettering the people lives.
Listening to the prime minister speech talking of 100 days achievements
of the PTI regime in office, it turned out to be high in promises and rhetoric and lowly in delivery and achievements.
When PTI took over reign of power it promised to ‘deliver quick
results’ saying people will feel the difference with in first 100 days.
However, to many, on the completion of 100 days in office, even
the high-cost ceremony and media campaign proved to be a scene from famous Shakespearean comedy “Much Ado About Nothing”.
It would have been much better, had the PM avoided appearance with
such fun fair when there was nothing to present or talk about. A simple press
conference by a minister would have been enough.
In an hour long speech, the PM was quite short of saying something substantial, new or meaningful about policy matters or revealing achievements on
the economic fronts. All he said was asking the people to tight their belt
further and wait for Saudi Arab, UAE or the Chinese aids to reach.
Daily Dawn has magnificently editorialized government performance saying, “On the financial crisis whose basic contours were set
before PTI took office….was perhaps rendered somewhat worse by indecision on part
of the PTI’s economic team… There is a contradiction in Khan’s economic
philosophy that could hamper his government’s medium-term plans: is economic
growth about bringing back allegedly looted wealth stashed abroad, or is it
about creating a business- and investment-friendly economic climate?”
The references prime minister made in his speech were again
quite similar to the ones generously made by Altaf Hussain sahib in his notorious speeches.
Had Prime Minister Imran Khan being a truthful or honest or
somewhere near to politics of Quaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as claimed by
him, he would have honorably accepted failures of his administration instead externalizing
all challenges or accusing past regimes.
For hundred days in office, PTI has did zero legislation
despite spending millions of tax payers money on sessions of both houses of parliament. But how can legislation be done in absence of parliamentary committees
which are yet to be formed.
Imran Khan again and again refers to corruption as prime malaise befallen
on Pakistan. Certainly, corruption is unacceptable but again poor
governance is tied to corruption. But the government seems to have not yet focused on generating wealth which is the obvious way to lift millions of poor out of poverty not the false promises of returning ‘billions of dollars’
stashed by Pakistanis abroad.
At the end one can assume Prime Minister Imran Khan has fortunately one good
advantage over MQM leader Altaf Hussian. Imran has an intelligent wife in madam
Bushra Manika which keeps on reminding him who he is once he make wrong moves or go off the track.
This is a luxury that Altaf Hussian had not had otherwise he would not have
fallen from the grace.
An indepth analysis
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