Middle class constituency

Speaking at a book launch in Islamabad on February 8, 2019, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry rued the fact that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) government had not been able to provide immediate economic relief to its middle class constituency due to inheriting an economy in dire straits. The minister trotted out the government's usual rhetoric about economic mismanagement and poor governance by the two previous governments of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) (2008-13) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) (2013-18) that has led to this state of affairs. While the argument about inheriting an economy in the doldrums may have some weight, its overuse by the PTI government to explain away what appears to be its fumbling in formulating policies to tackle this situation is wearing thin by now. The fact is that the PTI's slogans of tabdeeli (change) and Naya (New) Pakistan had raised expectations to such heights that it is proving difficult to satisfy those aspirations. Adding to the confusion is the apparent lack of preparation of the PTI team regarding the problems of the economy. As is well known, learning on the job can be a costly affair. The election campaign promises of the PTI such as creating 10 million jobs and building five million houses, obviously aimed at its core middle class constituency, are proving difficult to fulfill given the economic and financial constraints. Fawad Chaudhry gushed that it was the middle class' role in the 2014 dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad and the momentum from then on to the 2018 elections that produced the 'miracle' of Imran Khan's ascent to power. According to Chaudhry, it was Imran Khan's message of equality before the law, elimination of corruption and improving governance that had given hope to people. No other party, Chaudhry argued, can bring about change in the country. The government has been changed through the 2018 elections, he continued, and now the challenge is to change the system to make it poor people-friendly, but this would require sustained efforts. Chaudhry criticised the judiciary from which he said only the rich could get relief and the bureaucracy for their share of responsibility for the bad state of the economy.
While Fawad Chaudhry's rhetoric is obviously aimed at mollifying the middle class that is still awaiting some fruits of the PTI's coming to power, it has to be said that so far the PTI government has proved stronger in rhetoric than in performance. The on-again, off-again minuet regarding going to the IMF has contributed to economic uncertainty and loss of business confidence. Investment, domestic and foreign, is still relatively shy, a fact that nullifies the promise of 10 million jobs. The real estate sector is suffering from policy changes relating to documentation for tax purposes that has seen tax non-filers virtually cut out of property dealing and thereby dealt a blow to the industry that has relegated the five million houses to a distant dream. Even in the straitened economic circumstances obtaining, surely the government could invest in reforming education and healthcare (in Punjab at least) without needing vast sums of money. Equally important and again not requiring vast expenditure is the improvement of law and order, especially through reform of the police and other law enforcement agencies. If the political will is present, this would directly benefit the middle class and the poor. Although all the above reads like the disappointment many are expressing in the seeming lack of a roadmap with the government, there are chinks of light here and there. One such is the agreement between the PTI government and the Balochistan National Party-Mengal regarding efforts to recover and return missing persons to their families. A trickle of such returns has indeed started in Balochistan and it is hoped this heinous and patently illegal practice of disappearance will be consigned to the dustbin of history even while the recovery and return of the missing persons is being pursued seriously and earnestly.