Never have days and weeks prior to the budget announcement been so tense and full of uncertainty. There may be few or many surprises in the June 9 budget (levy of excise and value-added tax on the income of professionals such as lawyers and doctors.
A 10 to 15 percent increase in government employees' salaries and pensions and some relief packages for exporters, etc), but people are generally left feeling exposed and vulnerable.
One may find this summing up of present situation unnecessarily pessimistic or an exaggeration of true extent of the problem, but it is a fact that people are in a mood of fear. They don't know what life holds in store for them. They are stupefied by the situation which has made them unable to think clearly. People appear less impressed with the economic turnaround that they have been witnessing for the last seven years.
They seem equally unconcerned about the government claims that 7 percent plus growth rate will be holding over the next three or four years. It is no longer a news for them that the government will be reducing poverty by ensuring that minimum income level is kept somewhat above what would suffice for an average family.
Unfortunately, however, the government media managers seem perversely proud of their government's five-year record. But they are not willing to come clean and explain reasons why government's wrong and arguably illegal acts should be judged less seriously or excused. They are unsuccessfully trying to remove a widely held perception among people that odds are stacked against the government.
Faced with a serious challenge to his rule while preparing for another term in Presidency, General Musharraf must be feeling uneasy if not shaky because both present and future hold grim prospects for him. Apparently, the general is on thin ice.
The government decision to impose sweeping curbs on electronic media strongly suggests that it is trying to cover its nervousness against the rising opposition that has been galvanising itself since March or with the filing of presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
General Musharraf, who has always been found playing both ends against the middle or keeping his options open by supporting or favouring opposing sides, seems to have taken a highly unpopular course to consolidate his rule. His actions have ignited people's anger, he has annoyed them, particularly those belonging to legal fraternity, beyond measure.
The situation suggests that General Musharraf has gone off the rails in total contrast to his initial years when he was generally considered as a person observing everything that is happening around him even when this was quite impossible. Alas, he appears to be genuinely convinced that he's steaming ahead unchallenged with his agenda of reforms by giving an impression that he's better and more moral than both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
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