Moment of truth: Bridging the gap between promises and deliverance

PTI government takes charge in K-P’s darkest days.

PESHAWAR:

The soft-spoken and composed Pervez Khattak looked focused and determined as he laid out a foundation for the new government in front of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Friday.

Khattak went into the nitty-gritty of problems faced by the war-ravaged province in his 90 minute speech. If his administration achieves half of what it has promised, it will be nothing less than a miracle.

With a plethora of complex issues which include drone attacks, Nato supplies, terrorism, corruption, health, education and an unruly bureaucracy, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) maiden government is faced with a task as daunting as cleaning the Augean Stables. But it seems the frail-looking Khattak is fully aware of the monumental difficulties which lie ahead.



“Our mandate is heavy and we have a considerable burden on our shoulders,” he told lawmakers.

At the end of the day, however, it is not promises made but promises kept which matter. On their own, good intentions will only give temporary hope as the people in K-P want a tangible end to corruption and need better health, education, transport and civic facilities.

If the PTI government does not succeed, then it may be held accountable and blamed for its failure just as the Awami National Party (ANP) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) were in the run-up to elections.

Because if anything can be deduced from the outcome on May 11, it is that the general public has understood its ability to move on and hold its leaders accountable.

Striking a balance

The PTI’s slogan of change has to break the vicious cycle of mismanagement, in which no leader accepts responsibility or works for the good of the people. Following the ousting of the ANP-PPP coalition, the people of K-P are being seen as democratic individuals who do not hesitate to show the door to politicians who did not deliver. One can partly agree with this perception as it was mirrored in the defeat of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal religious alliance.

In case of PTI, the people’s hopes have been pinned to a ‘Naya’ Pakistan. Now with its government in place in Peshawar, the PTI has to deliver on its promised plans.

However, it is unrealistic to think the party can make 65 years of chaos disappear with a magic wand.

What they have to do in order to live up to their promises is give the general public small but visible improvement in their lives.

Ordinary people do not want the government to construct a subway or run bullet trains.

Rather, they are dying in wait for small mercies which are the government’s responsibility anywhere in the civilised world. They need clean and uninterrupted supplies of potable water, electricity, better health and educational services, and efficient public service.

Also, the need for a disciplined and dedicated police force which does not collude with thieves and criminals can no longer be ignored. Basic necessities such as these are not difficult to deliver if the political will is strong.

Looming challenges

No one ever promised smooth sailing for the PTI-led government. It is a Herculean task to wade through the sea of problems currently afflicting K-P. Additionally, unlike its counterparts across the country, Khattak’s inexperienced posse has to perform under the media’s sharpest gaze.

Despite admitting the government’s lack of experience, Khattak communicated which conviction that his new lawmakers would deliver where the experienced lot failed.

But the PTI’s near future depends on how a balance will be struck between lawmakers’ personal ambitions and the party’s own policies.

Administrative chaos and mismanagement in K-P is a big challenge for the party, with everything under the sun attached to reforming the government’s services delivery mechanism.

The PTI government will need to pump some sense into stiff-necked bureaucrats who have forgotten the idea of civil ‘service’ is to serve the people.

The toughest challenge, however, remains deteriorating law and order in the province. While addressing the assembly on Friday, Khattak tried to separate a bloody Taliban insurgency from other crimes. Yet in K-P, these two are inexorably linked as one cannot tell which kidnappers’ group is working for the Taliban, or which criminal group has no links to militants.

Additionally, with almost all police personnel deployed to fight militants, petty crimes have been hard to quash.

At best, if the PTI-led government succeeds in changing Peshawar’s image from a battlefront to a city, it will have achieved something substantial indeed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2013.