Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, came to power in 2018 with the slogan of “Naya Pakistan”, or a New Pakistan— a promise then received well by most Pakistanis. Over three years in power, most people now feel the country was heading in the wrong direction, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos, Paris-based market research and consulting firm, last month. From forex, fuel, gas, to high inflation, the list is long for Khan’s government when it comes to governance crises.

“Let’s not fool around that everything is working fine; Pakistan is already bankrupt,” Sabbar Zaidi, former head of the country’s Federal Board of Revenue, made a blunt remark on Wednesday, asking the government to face the reality to chart out the future course of actions. 

Recently, the government averted a forex crisis after Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in loans to Pakistan. However, its ballooning trade deficit has forced the government to re-engage with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of the $6 billion bailout package.

The IMF, in return, has sought tough measures—increasing electricity tariffs, fuel prices, and making the central bank more autonomous—from the government. Enacting these measures costs the government politically in the short term, especially when elections are due in less than two years. However, the government has no option but to follow it. 

“The SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) is no longer under Pakistan’s government but under the IMF’s command,” Leader of Opposition Shahbaaz Sharif said on Tuesday in the National Assembly, mocking the PTI government. 

In several major cities, gas supply has either been restricted or rationed as the government struggles to procure stocks for the coming weeks. Private industries and businesses suffer the most. Inflation due to high global prices of commodities has become the most pressing concern for the people besides unemployment. 

Hitting out at the ruling party, Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, said earlier this week in the national assembly, “The PTI government has given the country nothing but inflation, poverty, and unemployment over the three years of its tenure so much so it seemed as if this government has exacting revenge on the people of Pakistan.”

Everyone, including supporters of Khan, he claimed, is now disappointed with its performance. 

Furthermore, the government also appears struggling to pacify local protesters in Gwadar, a southwestern port town in the country’s restive Balochistan province and one of the most important sites in China’s flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Several Chinese projects sprang up in the city over the last few years, with little or no benefit to locals. 

Currently, locals have been staging sitting-ins for over a month now on a crucial highway abutting the Arabian Sea, demanding protection of their fishing rights from Chinese trawlers, access to clean water, and employment opportunities— the demands described as “legitimate” by Prime Minister Imran Khan himself. 

Shahbaaz Sharif, brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is in exile in London, described the protest as a “watershed event” and said it represented a “new chapter in the country, led and owned by people.” He further asked the government to listen and address their complaints. 

The mineral-rich region, home to the country’s longest ongoing insurgency, has had a long history of apathy, especially from the central government. However, this is a rare occasion, when the central government has acknowledged their genuine demand. Despite multiple attempts by local and provincial government officials, the government has failed to break the deadlock. 

(SAM)