With Punjab once again under its control, the PTI celebrated Wednesday as Thankgiving Day. The party now controls KP, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan along with the most populous province of the country. While the morale of the party is high, party chief Imran Khan has again asked the establishment why it allowed those incapable of managing the economy to assume power. Mt Khan has made it known that while he may talk to the TTP or Baloch and Sindhi separatists, he would never enter into dialogue with ‘thieves’, a term reserved by him for his major political rivals leading the PML(N) and the PPP. He has again made it known that he would settle on nothing short of fresh elections. What is more he would not participate in any election conducted by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. A self-righteous Mr Khan thinks he has done his bit by warning the establishment that all responsibility would lie on it and those it helped to come to power, if the country goes belly-up.
When the PML(N) and its allies decided to remove the PTI government through a no-confidence vote, they knew very well that the PTI had left the economy in an exceptionally bad shape. Announcing a massive cut in the price of petrol, diesel and electricity was meant to create problems for the next government. An over-confident Finance Minister Miftah Ismail however vowed to control inflation within two to three months. In early June he claimed that the country would have an agreement with the IMF soon despite still failing to fulfill some of the Fund’s conditions. Failure to control inflation, rising unemployment and power shortages added to the PML(N)’s unpopularity which expressed itself in the results of the by-elections in Punjab. In case the government decides to resign at this juncture, it would strengthen the perception of  its incompetence.
There is a need on the part of the PML(N)-led alliance to deliver as it had promised. In case the economy starts picking up after the IMF package due by the second half of August, it would be wiser to let the alliance complete the full tenure of the present National Assembly. Early elections could lead to a change of horses in midstream, which is not wise.
