Beyond 100 days

Analysts and commentators worldwide when considering the work of a new government invariably are drawn to the ‘100 days’ point, a little over three months and generally far too soon to draw anything conclusive from the efforts and achievements of the new dispensation. Occasionally politicians set 100-day goals for themselves, creating hostages to fortune as they do which may be carrot or stick. As the election rolls towards us the parties are beginning to make their pitches and first to put their hat in the ring is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which on Sunday unveiled a bold and ambitious agenda for its first 100 days if it were to gain power.

The PTI has hedged itself, and rightly so, with a modicum of caution in that it is listing agenda items on which ‘work will be started’ within 100 days rather than saying what will be achieved in that time. In real terms and with items as large as the K-P — Fata merger, the creation of a new province in south Punjab and the reform of the civil service there is going to be little movement so early on, and some of the proposals are fundamental and systemic and may take a generation to work through, agriculture for instance. The agenda is based around six themes and represents a bench mark that other parties are now going to have to emulate, laying out their own store for all to see.

Elections generally tend to be characterised by a lack of specifics in the run-up, with manifestos that are either so dense as to be unreadable or so diffuse and non-specific as to qualify as aerie-faerie nonsense. Leaving aside political affiliations the model that the PTI has tabled though hardly revolutionary is at least innovatory in local political terms. There is enough meat on the bones to enable the electorate to make choices that are better informed than previously, and we do indeed live in interesting times.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2018.

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