As the so called elected government sits into its second term, it seems that Pakistan is going nowhere and that too very quickly! Pakistan is now undergoing its second year of governance under PML-N and seventh year of parliamentary politics, success of the government based on “the development of Pakistan and the uplifting and elevation of the population of Pakistan” both seem to be staggering.
It was Pervez Musharraf who said in a recent address to the All Pakistan Muslim League, “It seems that the government will complete its tenure, God forbid,”. The statement of the general was, as usual, blown out of proportion and taken as controversial. However, many like me, concur with the general’s statement. If the PML-N government is able to fulfill its mandatory five year rule, it can mean only one thing for Pakistan; a further tenure of the same status quo parties.
In a recent interview with Sheikh Rasheed, anchor Moeed Pirzada discussed the recent successes of the PMLN government, including a sizable Chinse investment of $42 billion, creation of one of the worlds largest solar parks for electricity generation, a judicial commission inquiring into the election rigging of 2013, the success of operation Zarb-E-Azb as well as the security situation of Karachi.
I couldn’t believe that anyone was actually giving credibility to PML-N for any of these accomplishments. Starting off with the investment of $42 billion from China, an economic corridor linking Gwadar to the rest of Pakistan and China. A $42 billion investment from one of our closest allies is not an achievement but rather an expectation of China from Pakistan. Let us not forget that the facts of China’s benefits have not been fully disclosed, also let’s not forget how much of Pakistan’s assets would be participating in this investment including the usage of Gwadar to its maximum.
What can be seen as a great step for Pakistan is the creation of the Quaid-e-Azam solar plant in Bahawalpur, is a solar plant which, when operational, would be adding a minor 100 megawatts to the national grid. Based on the figures that our daily usage is nearing 15,000 megawatts and our production amount sits at a measly 12,000 megawatts, the amount created by the solar plant is nothing but a small addition. Easily stated, upon completion the solar park could create and provide up to 1000 megawatts of electricity, but this may be as useless as the Nandipur Power project. This is the same power project inaugurated by Nawaz government near Gujranwala which potentially could have created several 100 megawatts of electricity but is sitting idle! Considering Shabaaz Sharif’s statement during the pre election campaigning that, “If we do not rid the country of electricity outages within 6 months in power then my name is not Shabaaz Sharif!” it may be time for Shabaaz Sharif to change his name!
One of the biggest news of this year was the creation of judicial commission which was seen as a huge step in the stance against election rigging of 2013. An investigation team comprising of members of mutual parties plus the Election Commission and members of the judiciary to investigate the rigging of elections 2013! The commission was founded on the terms that whatever may be the result, all parties would accept the verdict. As great as it sounds, it seems unlikely that the commission would conclude with a result which initially would mean the dissolving of parliament on a national and provincial level!
The success of Zarb-E-Azb and the Karachi operations, 2 major operations for which many still give Nawaz credit yet fail to realize that felicitation for both successful operations should not be given to Nawaz or local policing agencies, but the military. Let’s recall the horrific Peshawar incident, which called for urgent military action against terrorists, was it not General Raheel Sharif who summoned the parties? Was it not General Raheel Sharif who stated that military action will be taken against the terrorists? Was it not General Raheel Sharif who said that PTI’s dharna should end and that the Nawaz government must create a judicial commission to investigate electoral rigging? It seems that the answer to all the above questions was yes, General Raheel Sharif was calling the shots and Nawaz was simply obeying. Operation Zarb-E-Azb was action by the Pakistan military against terrorists and likewise Sindh Rangers in Karachi.
Whether anyone likes to admit it or not and generally people won’t (due to fear of being labelled ‘undemocratic’) but the Sharif government has failed. The Nawaz government is turning Pakistan into a business conglomerate! Mian Muhummad Nawaz Sharif’s government has been ousted before and if history continues to repeat itself, it may well be ousted again!
