People vote for a party which is out of power on the basis of its promises. A ruling party is however judged by its performance. Those who voted for the PTI want it to provide jobs, houses, reduction in gas and power rates, social justice and an end to corruption.
PM Imran Khan believes that he lost the LB elections in KP because of a wrong selection of candidates. Many think the party was humiliated on account of its failure to fulfill the promises it had made to its voters. While in KP the PM gave inadequate explanations for failure to control prices. Inflation he said had increased due to the rising global prices of commodities. Counting the steps avowedly taken to mitigate its effect on public, he said the government introduced health cards and ration cards. But will it satisfy a famished person if instead of food he is offered a pair of new shoes? The unemployed would not feel reassured by Mr Khan’s argument that a growing population poses a big challenge to jobs. Why did the PTI promise in its manifesto that it “will create 10 million jobs over 5 years in key sectors.” Didn’t Mr Khan and his “well-prepared team” know that Pakistan had a huge population when they made the promise?
Imran Khan maintains that the challenge of unemployment can be met by producing skilled manpower. But this can happen only if supported by population control in the sixth most populous country of the world with a population of 219m which, given the current rate of population growth, is estimated to reach 280m by 2030. The PM’s fear of annoying the extremist religious lobby stands in the way of recognizing the need for population control.
Instead of highlighting what his government had managed to achieve so far, Mr Khan made more promises during his visit to Peshawar and Haripur. There was a Rs20 billion plan to improve power supply in the province. Small micro-hydel projects were being initiated in areas far from transmission lines. In Haripur, PM Khan said his government was investing in quality education which is more of a dream rather than reality. With increase in population out of control, and few facilities to train manpower, the country’s youth could become a liability instead of its biggest resource.
