Prime Minister Imran Khan enunciated even before taking oath of office his vision of austerity. This has translated since into moving into the relatively modest military secretary's three-bedroom residence with just two servants in attendance instead of the Prime Minister's House sprawling over 130 acres and with a staff of 524 (although the latter will continue to be maintained and therefore offer no substantial expenditure reduction). Similarly, all leaders have been 'demoted' from travelling in Business Class to Economy Class. The discretionary funds of the prime minister, federal ministers, MNAs, etc., have been abolished. Non-essential foreign tours and the huge entourages that accompanied them in the past have been ruled out. The prime minister's excess fleet of luxury vehicles (of which there are about 80 in total) is being auctioned on September 17. In short, the luxurious lifestyle of past leaders is to give way to a lean, simple way of life and functioning. These initial measures announced in the very first few days of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government have attracted their fair share of enthusiastic supporters and critics alike. The critics include economists who dismiss these decisions as superficial populist steps or even publicity stunts that will do little or nothing to help deal with the serious economic crisis being faced by the country. While not refuting this argument, Prime Minister Imran Khan's supporters say these are important messages being conveyed to the government structures known for lavish spending on officials, elected and non-elected, as well as society as a whole. The idea being that if simple living is demonstrated at the top, the example will trickle down through the government structures and institutions as well as awaken society to the yawning gap between the elite and the rest in our country. Those guilty of ostentation include not only the political leaders and government officials but also the affluent class, for contributing to the incremental spread of this affliction through the not so wealthy portion of our society. A culture of 'keeping up with the Joneses' has taken hold in our society with its concomitant spread of ostentatious displays of pelf and wealth in lavish weddings, feasts, and so on in the public space. Inevitably, as the old adage goes, a fish rots from the head. If the leaders show scant regard for the state of unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, bad health and other deprivations of the vast majority of our citizens, the rich and powerful will see no incentive to adopt a relatively simple and modest lifestyle. Palatial bungalows, fleets of luxury vehicles, secure or gated residence communities mark the lifestyle of the rich, inviting potential social resentment, anger, and perhaps worse. In passing let it be said that the unseemly controversy about the prime minister travelling by helicopter between the Prime Minister's House and his private residence in Bani Gala was not helped by the government's ham-handed defence. Security and public convenience considerations should have been the only justifications for the protocol instead of a spurious and controversial cost comparison with road travel by the prime minister. A perfectly well intentioned measure can be spoiled by an unconvincing explanation/justification.
Apart from the messaging involved in the austerity measures so far to government structures and society at large, a considerable consideration for the PTI government is to mobilise through such attitudes the expatriate Pakistani community to come to the rescue, economic and other, of the country's cash-strapped challenges. In the past, expatriate Pakistanis wanting to help out their country of origin have been frustrated by the difficulties involved in negotiating the red tape and other obstacles to sincere efforts to bring investment and donations home. Added to these implementation frustrations was the perception that money donated with sincere purpose ended up being wasted or siphoned off by corrupt political leaders and government bureaucrats. Prime Minister Imran Khan hopes that if that perception can be changed by austerity, simplicity and integrity, our overseas Pakistanis will bring their hard earned money home to help out a beleaguered homeland.
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