If the PTI and the PML-N can overcome their egos, they could really work together to make historic changes.
KARACHI: Days have turned into weeks and soon it will be a month. Still both sides are banging their heads on either side of the wall and not getting anywhere. In the meantime, the country has been flooded, the business of government is straitjacketed, citizens of Islamabad and indeed everywhere are getting tired of the same spectacle every day and the outside world is wondering where we are going.
Perhaps, it’s time for a compromise and for the PTI to stop the posturing and seriously work towards an agreement with the government on the three or four things most dear to them. Specific bills should be tabled by the PTI in Parliament for electoral reforms and improvement of governance — frankly something that it should have done right in the beginning of its term. The PTI should also specifically ask for two ministries to be allocated to it — health and education, with appropriate funding, to advance the two causes which are most important for development of the country.
The PTI should demand adequate funding for these two domains — health and education. Where could this funding come from? As Imran Khan has pointed out in his speeches, the wealthy pay almost no tax. This is not because they are necessarily tax evaders, but because, by and large, our tax system doesn’t impose taxes on the rich.
If the PTI and the PML-N can overcome their egos, they could really work together to make historic changes. Play for the country, Mr Khan! You once had the courage to accept that your acceptance speech on the World Cup victory was wrong, display that courage again.
Saeed Mirza
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2014.
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