Explain yourselves

Government is quick enough to offer to talk to TTP, but less alert to the necessity of talking to the general public.


Editorial October 27, 2013
PM’s office has ordered the heads of ministries to ‘proactively influence’ the media, in order not only to inform the public about unpopular political decisions, but to explain them as well. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

Successive governments of Pakistan have always been economical with the truth and rarely go on the record when it comes to explaining the harsh realities of policy implementation. The language of avoidance is deployed, obfuscation and dissembling, anything other than telling the people of the country what it is their elected government is actually doing on a day-to-day basis. That might be about to change. The prime minister’s office has ordered the heads of ministries to ‘proactively influence’ the media, in order not only to inform the public about unpopular political decisions, but to explain them as well in such a way as to make them more palatable. This runs contrary to the instinct of virtually every politician and bureaucrat in the land and it is going to be instructive to observe how these preternaturally secretive creatures react to this counter-intuitive instruction.



Henceforward all ministries, divisions and departments are to issue background briefing notes, a rationale for a particular decision or policy and ‘salient features’ of decisions that are politically unpopular. This move towards openness comes in the wake of a very unpopular rise in the price of petrol and the impending privatisation of a number of state entities which is, at the very least, going to put hundreds of thousands out of work.

The instruction is equally an admission of failure by the government, whose media policy appears to have been to say as little as possible on the record to anybody and to explain nothing beyond the bare essentials. Senior members of the government, the prime minister included, are notably reticent before the gaze of the Fourth Estate. The finance minister has yet to hold an on-the-record briefing for journalists regarding negotiations with the IMF and the ministerial team, generally, is acting like anything other than a team, more a collection of fiefdoms. The government is quick enough to offer to talk to the TTP, but less alert to the necessity of talking to the general public. It remains to be seen whether the new instruction will be effective and those hitherto silent, suddenly talkative.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2013.

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