PTI – fast losing popularity primarily because of the following distinct short comings:
1) Significant rise in cost of living – specially approx. 50% increase in food prices – plus unaffordable cost of electricity, gas and fuel
2) Failure to hold the corrupt accountable and to successfully prosecute them. Visibly protecting the corrupt among PTI
3) Failure to connect with the public honestly and in a truthful manner. People are tired of PM’s religious sermons with zero action on the ground.
4) Weak government spokespersons in political defense against savvy and aggressive opposition spokespersons – PTI losing media war. Why is the government secretive and not forthcoming? examples; deal with Malik Riaz, Roosevelt Hotel, appointees like CMs of KP and Punjab; appointees as ministers & advisors etc.
5) Bad and consistently deteriorating governance
6) Significant increase of corruption in government depts.
7) Failure to even begin work on promises made by candidate Imran Khan such as small cabinet, presentation of bills in the parliament pertaining to reformation of the system (governance and Judicial)
The country is heading towards major chaos and violence. People are frustrated and divided along fault lines; ethnicity, provincialism, tribes/baradari, sectarianism, rich and poor etc. Is Pakistan doomed? The situation appears to be moving towards imposition of emergency and martial law or an interim army backed technocrat or national Govt until 2023 elections.
The police has not caught the person who rapped a woman on motorway in front of her children, PM has not done anything about it.
Children have been sexually molested and killed but no action taken by the PM, he has not even acknowledged these murders
The local bodies’ elections should have been held 2 years ago which PTI promised. PTI failed to do so in Punjab and PPP failed to hold them in Sindh. When held, these bodies should be fully empowered and not under financial control of the CMs.
Ref. National economy, I doubt if any government will be able to make it better in the short term. It will take significant time in my opinion. Permanently Fixing economy will require structural changes in the system which would need parliament bills
National economy was already weak and highly leveraged but has rapidly deteriorated since 2018 because of PM’s inability to appoint the right people for the right job.
1) Abrupt devaluation of the Pak rupee instead of progressive devaluation over time was a big shock. The situation became worst when PM’s bright star first finance minister Asad Umer decided to increase all utility prices such as electricity and fuel instead of devising a method to absorb the shock while protecting the people.
2) The government expectation that devaluation will drive significant increase in exports did not come true because government failed to gauge other factors such as no or low confidence of the business community (manufactures & exporters) in the government due to multitude of factors – history of inconsistent policy, corrupt and excessive tax regime, judicial & governance issues etc.
3) Borrowing in US dollars decisions at much higher interest rates than the international market to finance rupee projects.
4) Core bad decision is to place all economic hitmen at key economic positions who simply want CPEC projects delayed.
PM is still not getting it. Instead of changing his team, he continues to hire the wrong folks like notorious Waqar Masood has been made SA to PM same guy who was with Zardari and later with Ishaq Dar. What policy improvement is this? All the same and worst .
Remittances by overseas Pakistanis were the savior which will not last long because the Saudis and UAE have instituted a policy this past summer to send back workers from Muslim countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh and replace them with Indians. They stopped hiring new workers from Pakistan in June 2020. When remittances slow down to almost nothing, Pakistan will see much harder time in the near future
