6 things you need to know about the new PTI govt

By Omar R Quraishi

1.       Of the 102 PM House vehicles put up for auction, 61 were sold. What happens to those not sold? The government estimated that around Rs 2 billion would be raised by the sale of the vehicles, which included 4 bullet-proof limousines whose combined value was estimated at Rs 1 billion. Also, how much was spent on the ads placed in the newspapers and on the video clips made to share on social media about the auction? It has been reported that the auction fetched in the region of Rs 200 million, a mere one-tenth of the amount that the PTI government hoped to collect.

The PTI did this – which now seems more of a PR spectacle than anything else – because it wanted to show its supporters that it believed in austerity and belt-tightening. However, the reality is to the contrary because senior government leaders continue to have lots of protocol and roads continue to be blocked for their convoys to pass, just like in Purana Pakistan. (Many of the cars were very old and in a dilapidated condition - several were over 14 years old and one was from the 1970s).

2.       Eight buffaloes kept at the Prime Minister House were sold off for Rs 2.03 million. Some days before the auction a PTI senator known to be close to the PM took TV cameras and reporters to where the buffalos were kept and spoke about, according to him, the buffaloes were happy because they knew that their freedom was soon at hand. Yet another PR gimmick, because Rs 2.03 million is hardly going to make any debt towards reducing the debt burden or add to the dam fund, or, for that matter, help in cutting down the fiscal deficit. In this case too, it has yet to be disclosed how much was spent on the ads for the buffaloes auction including the video clips made on them for social media.

Looked at in totality, this seems another gimmick because an amount of Rs 2.03 million is not going to make even a small dent in bridging the fiscal deficit. And it’s a gimmick because it diverts the attention and gaze of the public away from the actual hard decisions that the government has to make, some of which will go against all the pledges that the PTI made prior to the election.

3.       The gas price bombshell – on average gas prices are set to rise by a whopping 43%. For those with higher usage, the rise could be as much as 186%! There has hardly been any discussion on this on TV channels. The impact of such a rise is manifold, not least cost-push inflation since gas is a major input for industry and business and such a significant increase will lead to an increase in the cost of production, and this in turn will lead to a rise in the price of goods and services in general. Furthermore, the increase means that CNG will now be costlier than petrol and that the CNG industry, with its hundreds of filling stations and providing employment to tens of thousands of people will die a painful death.

4.       The government and in particular the finance minister have dilly-dallied on the issue of whether Pakistan will go to the IMF to seek a bailout. Earlier this past week, a meeting was held with an IMF delegation and we saw the finance minister make a U-turn from his earlier statements that the GoP would not seek an IMF bailout when he said that the meeting that had taken place could be the basis for a potential bailout. Given this context, it would be fair to assume that the GoP, in all likelihood, has – at the very least -- already initiated the bailout talks phase.

5.       The Information Ministry announced that it was setting up a special committee which would vet all ads that the government releases to the print and electronic media. This usually runs into billions of rupees and this is the first time that such a committee has been set up by any government. The information minister himself will head it and it will include information ministers of all provinces except Sindh (surprise surprise) and Senator Faisal Javed. The senator is said to have played a lead role in the video clips that were made for the auction of vehicles at the PM House and is also believed to be closely linked to an ad/media agency.

The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) has strongly criticized the formation of this committee saying it is tantamount to censorship of the press and belies the stated commitment of the PTI that it would uphold freedom of the press and independence of the media. The APNS has also said that such a move undermines the 18^thamendment, because it includes information ministers from 3 of the 4 provinces into a centralized decision-making body, and suggests that the PTI government’s commitment to the 18^th amendment is shaky at best.

This is yet another example of the PTI government saying that they will do something that on the face of it seems a welcome and much-needed step (in this instance, ensuring freedom of the press) but turns out to something quite to the contrary.

6.       The PTI had said that it stands against nepotism and dynastic rule, and that it believes in merit. However, a closer look at several appointments that it has made gives quite the opposite picture. Take the case of Naeemul Haq, a close friend of the PM, who has been appointed Special Assistant to the PM on Political Affairs with the rank of Minister of State. Another close friend of his, Awn Chaudhry, has been appointed Adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister while yet another close friend, Zulfi Bukhari (who is a UK national), has been made Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources with the rank of Minister of State.

 Two other friends Chico Jahangir and UK-based property tycoon Aneel Musarrat have attended official meetings with the PM presiding over them. The foreign minister’s son and nephew have been appointed parliamentary secretaries and tickets for the bye-elections have been given to close relatives of several sitting PTI legislators. This also totally negates the PTI’s claim that it stands against nepotism and dynastic rule.

The writer is an independent journalist and media and communications consultant. He has previously worked at Dawn, The News, The Express Tribune, ARY News, Samaa and as Media Consultant to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He tweets at @omar_quraishi.