K-P deprived of funds

Federal funding for a hundred different development projects in PTI-ruled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has been blocked

In handling the Panama Papers scandal, the federal government has revealed a very important fact about governance in our country: it is essentially conducted on a reward and punishment system more suited to disciplining errant children than to the running of a country. The federal government now appears to have thrown a tantrum in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations and subsequent attacks by the PTI against the PML-N and the prime minister. Federal funding for a hundred different development projects in PTI-ruled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has been blocked, with governance taking a back seat to verbal sparring. Overtly, this has been attributed to procedural difficulties and a shortage of federal funds but the timing of these issues has suspiciously coincided with the breaking of the Panama story. Signalling that it is planning to continue this feud into the next fiscal year as well, the federal government has dropped all 45 development proposals put forth by the K-P government for the Public Sector Development Programme 2016-17.

The development schemes, which have been stalled by the delay in releasing funds, involve road construction, healthcare, sanitation and water projects amongst others. While political parties are busy scoring points and trying to erode support for their rivals, the cost is being borne by the people who voted them into power. The Panama Papers revealed information highly relevant to the state of accountability and corruption in this country and the dialogue these revelations initiated is one that must continue. However, using this scandal as a smoke screen to take attention away from the very real issues of economic and social development is a tactic not suited to our elected leaders. The stalling of development projects in a province that has been sorely neglected in the past does not reflect well on the foresight or leadership abilities of the PML-N. Too often in the past it had been accused of being a Punjab-centric party. Its behaviour here will not help change this perception. Is it really all that surprising then that a significant portion of the populace does not trust the democratic process or the governments elected through it? The sooner the federal government decides to put aside political feuding and actually govern, the better it will be for the people of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2016.

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