Mounting public anger

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has jumped into the murky waters of politics and publicly referred to the motive behind Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) jalsas as 'incomprehensible'. His stated bafflement has been accompanied by letting loose his attack guard led by three elected (Defence Minister Khawaja Asif struggling to launch himself as a defender of the armed forces honour, Railways Minister Saad Rafiq reducing fares but unable to provide security to the passengers, and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah struggling under accusations of ties with militant groups) and three selectees or Senators (namely the mild mannered Pervez Rashid, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar delusional yet another year about the actual reception of his budget and Ahsan Iqbal).
The Prime Minister himself has dismissed PTI jalsas as targeting some of PML-N flagship projects including the laptop and fee reimbursement projects and Metrobus. The Prime Minister would be well advised to look at some criticism of his flagship projects which include the need to focus on prioritising energy investments at the expense of other deficient sectors including roads. Pervez Rashid has advised PTI to shut up and improve the state of affairs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but he must know that any party that can focus on only one issue at a time would have an appalling record of abysmal governance.
The PTI claims that it is protesting the 2013 election rigging and in spite of the passage of one year the party argues that voting in just four constituencies that it suggested be looked at more closely remain outside the ambit of any meaningful investigation with stay orders. Saad Rafiq and Khawaja Asif won from two of these four constituencies, which may explain why they are so passionate about anti-PTI rhetoric. Be that as it may, Nawaz Sharif must acknowledge three major facts that he has so far refused to acknowledge if he is not to compromise his re-election bid four years down the line.
First and foremost, the basic opposition politics of this country, that he knows so well and employed with such good effect during the five years of the PPP rule, is to launch massive rallies, which are then evaluated in terms of numbers not by one's attack guards but by an independent media that scans the crowds to determine the numbers enabling all and sundry to evaluate for themselves. The Prime Minister has directed the Speaker of the National Assembly to place the recommendations of the electoral reforms committee for parliamentary approval - a forum that the Prime Minister and most of his cabinet rarely attend though the ruling party dominates in numbers. This may not appease the PTI because the very majority of the PML-N is attributed to rigging, which may allow it to jettison those reforms, which it considers may compromise its future electoral ambitions. A better option would be to deal with the PTI concerns through meeting their demand for investigating votes in four constituencies in a transparent manner and then to begin a debate in parliament seeking inputs for electoral reforms from all parties.
Second and perhaps more importantly from his perspective the Prime Minister needs to determine why the PTI jalsas have been attended by so many in spite of the heat and the dust. To put it baldly the general public is seething at the continuing heavy loadshedding with few lending any credence to the government's electricity demand figures (which continue to be manipulated like during the PPP rule to project a reduced shortfall than is in reality the case). The Prime Minister's frequent statements that his government has launched many an energy project and to be patient till they come on line is hardly likely to appease the millions of Pakistanis without electricity in the current 45 to 50 degree heat. His government's repeated claims that electricity generation has increased by 1700MW after the elimination of the circular debt on 29th June, 2013 is being challenged on three counts: (i) the actual increase in generation was 700 to 800 MW, (ii) the recipients of the rise in generation were three cities in Punjab and (iii) the usual annual rise in demand has made the actual rise in generation negligible. Thus industries continue to lay off people due to loadshedding and no one is tolerant of the government's exhortation to give it some more time. And with the concomitant impact of electricity on water availability the quality of life of the public is perhaps not much better than during the PPP rule. For the Prime Minister to publicly appreciate a flawed budget and later state that enhanced reliance on foreign borrowing for construction of Dasu dam is a mark of his government's success reflects rather poorly on his awareness of the reception of his on the general public.
Prices of food and other essentials are rising in spite of claims of a reduction in inflation (the cumulative effect is clearly biting the public) and Pakistanis are also appalled at the fact that erosion of the rupee is at a considerably faster rate than the increase in the monthly stipends under the Benazir Income Support Programme. Dar's figure of 90 million - and that is a very high figure by any standards - living below the poverty line is mind-boggling. And 75 billion rupees earmarked for BISP is certainly not enough to meet the needs of the 90 million living below the poverty line. The rupee has stabilised vis-a-vis the dollar, however, its internal erosion continues and in this context, one would again be hard-pressed to understand why the Prime Minister loses no opportunity to praise his Finance Minister who, between data manipulation and heavy reliance on foreign borrowing, has somehow convinced the Prime Minister that he is doing a great job. One would not be remiss in assuming that the plaudits heaped by the Prime Minister on his Finance Minister would cost him votes in the next elections and could be another reason for many attending Imran Khan's jalsas.
The solution to data manipulation by the Ministry of Water and Power (with respect to demand as well as charges routinely hurled by Abid Sher Ali against other provinces) and Ministry of Finance is relatively easy: the Prime Minister must not only delink the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics from the Finance Ministry for starters but also be more hands-on with the actual state of the economy and make some changes to his cabinet in deference to general public opinion.
And finally the Prime Minister needs to accept that taking political mileage out of government-military tensions remains a feature of our politics notwithstanding the lessons learned by the two main national political parties or the unlikelihood of any coup at this point in time. Therefore irrespective of the Prime Minister's current views premised on his own unique political history, the fact remains that he did use civil-military conflict to unseat a legitimately elected civilian government in the past. And he did rise within the ranks under a military dictator. Getting sanctimonious about it now is neither here nor there. And the way forward is not to hurl accusations against the PTI but to reach a point where the people would back him come what may.
Thus the Prime Minister needs to support data integrity - be it with respect to the economy, elections or the numbers attending a jalsa organized by an opposition leader represented in parliament - as it would ensure not only the formulation of appropriate policies but would also reflect an improvement in governance. A reality check is certainly in order!