Three years into power, the PTI government has had its fair share of successes despite a few hurdles along the way. The ruling party had set ambitious targets for itself when it unveiled its manifesto in 2018 which included an elaborate plan to transform the country into “Naya Pakistan”. In some respects, the government has done justice to the party slogan, while other areas remain a work in progress.
Perhaps the most obvious success has been in the foreign policy arena, particularly with regards to highlighting the cause of Kashmir globally, facilitating the Afghan peace process and countering Islamophobia. On the issue of Afghanistan, Pakistan’s efforts are now being recognised by the international community and the realisation regarding Islamabad’s importance as a regional actor appears to be setting in.
On the economic front, the ruling party’s performance can be termed as a mixed bag. From the perspective of transitioning to an export-led economy, the progress is there for everyone to see as the textile sector has been breaking past export records. Covid of course, threw a spanner in the works and disrupted the government’s economic agenda. The issue of inflation however remains a serious issue that disproportionately impacts the most disadvantaged segment of our population. The Current Account deficit is widening once again which could be dangerous if not controlled. Improving the direct tax regime, increasing use of fiscal instruments and enacting key structural reforms are still areas that need to be worked on.
People centric programs and initiatives however need to be appreciated as they have been a key feature during the past three years. Alongside the BISP, the government has worked on various other projects under the Ehsaas programme. It is worth mentioning that the World Bank has listed the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme among the top four social protection interventions globally in terms of the number of people covered. Other initiatives such as low-cost housing projects, the expansion of health cards and provision of universal healthcare in KP and the Billion Tree Tsunami programme also deserve to be highlighted. The government must take heart from its successes and should continue building on this momentum over the coming years, especially in the areas of education and climate change where a lot more needs to be done. There are roughly two years still left in this government’s term—it must make them count.
Source: Published in The Nation on 27th August 2021