The concerns of the people were faithfully depicted in the Budget discussion in the National Assembly, as members, many of whom were content to mere lobby fodder and stay silent the rest of the year, were now expressing the sentiments of their constituents, irrespective of which side of the aisle they sat on. The government had claimed that it had presented a budget which had benefited farmers, but it came in for criticism not just from the Opposition, but from its own members. This might reflect the large number of agriculturists in the House, but it also reflects the noise in those constituencies.
A universal complaint seems to be of inflation and loadshedding, which opposition members accused the government of causing, and which Treasury members said the government was unable to stop. One Treasury member raised the question of the law and order situation in Rajanpur, and pointed that while multiple IGPs had come and gone during the PTI’s tenure, criminal gangs continued to run riot in the riverine area of Rajanpur district. Apart from the failures on the economic front, law and order problems should cause the government concern, especially as Rajanpur abuts Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s native Dera Ghazi Khan district.
The PTI may have its strongholds in urban areas, but there is no gainsaying the fact that rural areas provide the majority necessary to rule. The government must pay attention to the voices coming from the backbenches, for at Budget time, legislators can be disarmingly frank. The biggest mistake the government would make would be to dismiss these speeches as being made by members of the opposition, or by members of the disgruntled pro-Tareen group which has its own reasons to be upset with the government. Those of its legislators, who are giving a report that all is well, may simply be trying to avoid trouble. At the same time, the government should remember that these voices are merely trying to represent their constituencies. It should keep in mind that these speeches may well be all that allows the members to go back to their constituencies. The government should realize that it has a problem when its members cannot go back to their constituencies unless they have criticized the government for inflation and loadshedding, instead of defending it.
