Performance of Outgoing PDM Govt

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: Outgoing Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his farewell address to the nation, reiterated the claim that he sacrificed his politics over Pakistan and saved the country from plunging into a Sri Lankan situation.

“Our government was formed constitutionally and we are leaving constitutionally,” said Shehbaz Sharif, adding, “We did our best to live up to the nation’s expectations and never betrayed their trust as the custodian of the national exchequer.”

He wished good luck to caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-HaqKakar and promised that Nawaz Sharif’s will return to Pakistan soon.

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The outgoing PM claims need to be reviewed with facts, and there should be a balancing act with both past and present performances.

It is worth mentioning that Muslim League-N, People’s Party, JUI, MQM, Balochistan Awami Party, Balochistan National Party, ANP, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan Noorani, and other parties with different ideologies and characters have joined hands to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government since 2018.They had no common ground, and the thing that united them was the immense popularity of PTI and its leadership.

JUI started with the first push and their Islamabad march came as soon as PTI came into power. The same attitude was condemned by all PDM parties, including JUI, when PTI made a sit-in in 2014.

PDM played its hand and is in a ditch, now facing forward. Sending democratically elected government in connivance with other parties never did ring a bell as to what comes after.

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Their campaign in 2020 and 2021 with rallies in different cities met a disastrous end as not even 10,000 could be gathered at Minar-i-Pakistan Lahore, followed by one of PDM’s stalwarts, Mehmood Achkzai’s remarks on Punjab.

A change of fortune happened when PTI couldn’t maintain balance in keeping relationships with military establishments, and what came after was Russia’s visit and the American Cypher.

Inflation was the only point, and that was harped day in and day out as rumours about American Cypher and Russia’s visit were state protocols and everyone was taken on board.

Bilawal Bhutto came from Karachi and led a march with a slogan of uncontrolled inflation. In fact, after PTI’s ouster from office, the inflation in true letter and spirit skyrocketed, and it is three times more in 16 months of the PDM regime than in the past.

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What transpired after is the same old story: the PTI government ended with a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly. Allies, along with defecting members, did the job. Sindh House has tales that will be unearthed in due course as national politics is a quagmire with unfathomable depth and nothing comes out clean. The so-called democratic process was done in an undemocratic way to get the desired results.

A brief comparison of PDM’s 16-month inflation stays uncontrollable: the rupee at Rs 187 in PTI’s time is now at Rs 275 and the electricity tariff from Rs 18 is now at Rs 50. The flour crisis and many others followed suit as things stayed out of order during PDM’s tenure. The PDM government is a relic of the past. Now it is up to the caretaker as to what relief it can give to the common man.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

The article is assessment of the writer and it can be contrary to the editorial policy of the organization.