Govt challenges: Experts urge Imran to take all political parties on board

Top poll body urged to address reservations over its systems to avert crisis

ISLAMABAD: As the PTI works overtime to gather sufficient lawmakers-elect to form a government in the centre and in the Punjab province, a group of policy experts have suggested that the real challenge the party will face would be to develop a national consensus on key issues of foreign policy, economy and extremism.

Without reaching out political parties and engaging them on major policy matters, reforms and revival of the system will not be possible, they suggested.

This was the crux of deliberations between experts during the seminar on the ‘Post-Election 2018 Political Developments’. The seminar had been organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad on Monday.



Senior analyst Zahid Hussain said despite fears that the elections could be delayed or the possibility of widespread violence, the public had thronged polling stations and voted in the third consecutive general elections on July 25.

This had enhanced the credibility of the democratic system in Pakistan despite the challenges.

Hussain pointed out that no election in the history of the country was free of controversies. He further lamented that all political parties had failed to build a consensus on the political process and dispute resolution.

He suggested that the forthcoming government should strengthen the parliament and achieve civilian supremacy.

Outlining the key challenges for the government, he said that extremism would be a major challenge, especially without support from other political parties. Failure to tackle the problem would compromise internal security of the country, he said while laying bare the challenge.

Earlier, SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qayyum Suleri said that to conduct the third consecutive general elections was historic in itself and great news for the people of the country.

Despite the misgivings, he said that this exercise was a positive step forward for the evolution of democracy in the country.

He said that while there were no major complaints on polling day, a slow polling process was observed in various parts of the country.

Dr Suleri expressed his reservations over the collapse of Election Commission of Pakistan’s (EPC) Result Transmission System (RTS) and the Result Management System (RMS) which raised questions on the transparency and outcomes of the elections.

Owing to some bad governance on the part of the ECP, Dr Suleri said that doubt was cast over this transparent exercise.

ECP should address complaints and reservations raised by some political parties to avoid any future crisis, he suggested.

Commenting on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s first address to the nation after gaining a plurality of seats in the National Assembly, Dr Suleri said that the speech itself was a change from the line Imran had adopted during his campaign and was softer.

He added that the speech had touched on all major policy issues from foreign policy to the economy.

The SDPI chief executive said that the challenge for Imran would be to develop political consensus and to take all political parties along on policy matters such as foreign policy, economy and the social sector.

In this regard, Dr Suleri said that SDPI will continue its support through evidence-based policy advice to the forthcoming government.



Later, SDPI Board of Governor (BoG) member Ambassador (retired) Shafqat KakaKhel said that Imran’s first speech on the foreign policy front was a balanced speech and that one could differ with him on its contents.

The desire for improved ties with neighbours, especially Afghanistan and India, was a positive step forward for peace and prosperity of the region.

However, Amb Kakakhel said that the civil-military relationship will remain a major challenge for any democratic government. Unless the forthcoming government led by the PTI strengthens the institutions by engaging all political parties, better civil-military relations would remain a slogan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2018.