Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has forcefully insisted that in order to notch up 40000 MW of electricity, (he said a plan has been drawn up) his government is going to need another term.
Given the pace of things and how slowly they are progressing, the figure is too big for a second time or even many more terms to catch up with it.
And not to put too fine a point on it, he seems to be getting ahead of himself. The quantity of megawatts he has mentioned is a bit too much for the present needs which no one is asking for. As things stand, the country only needs what its real needs are, neither more nor less. What is needed at the moment is just the bare minimum which comes around to something that is able to at least easily end the severity of the shortfall. As long as the PML-N is able to do that, it will be seen as responding to the crisis with the right approach.
Plus the danger attached with such statements is that it displays a longing on the part of the ruling PML-N setup to stick to power under the garb of ‘serving the public’.
The electorate has already empowered the party with a stint which carries with it the task of starting an offensive against loadshedding. The people did not bring them to power to hear excuses that another term –when the first is barely months old — will be needed just to patch up the tattered electricity sector. The voters aren’t so juvenile as to be goaded into such visions.
The plan to provide 40000 MW is commendable but it doesn’t have to be pegged with the demand for another term. That is up to the voters to decide when they will go to polls which is more than four years away. For the time being there is no need to let out such vibes, just get down to the present job and get it done.