Time now to act

Imran Khan has unveiled his 21-strong playing eleven, and it’s time now for Khan and his team to bat. Having shown his attacking skills in the field, it’s time for Khan to pad up and take the crease. He has proved he fits well in the role of opposition leader, now he has to prove he is a prime minister material too. Khan’s team comprises 16 ministers and five advisers. Six of the ministries have gone to the allies. While a full-time foreign minister is what had been missing from the successive cabinets thus far, Khan’s team will have no full-time interior minister. Khan is reported to keep the important portfolio to himself, apart from a few others.

As expected, the key ministries have gone to party stalwarts. Asad Umar has been known to take up the role of finance minister and notified as so. There can be no better choice for the all-important post of foreign minister than Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a veteran who has ventured into the tricky diplomatic corridors earlier and who has the required skills as well as the sophistication to perform the job. The same goes true for Fawad Chaudhry who knows the art of defending the party as a professional spokesperson and fits well in the role of information minister. Of note as well is the choice of Dr Ishrat Hussain, former SBP governor, who is tasked with the job of institutional reforms. Khan’s staunch ally Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was only found good enough to try and resurrect the railways. Out of the cabinet, Dr Arif Alvi has been rewarded for his long struggle for the party with being nominee for the post of President of Pakistan. A founding PTI member, Alvi also comes from Karachi, like Mamnoon Hussain, the current President.

One liners are only good to the extent of infusing the verve and vigour to embark on a journey, what drives you ahead in pursuit of the destination is a well-worked-out plan. It’s time for Prime Minister Imran Khan to understand that in politics even where there’s will, there may not necessarily be a way. The vision must come complementing the will to carve the way forward.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2018.

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