Close to the presentation of the budget, proposed for the fiscal year of 2021-22, almost each top leader of our main opposition parties, the PML-N and PPP, continued to boastfully claim that they were all set to shock the government. They pretended as if clandestinely collecting numbers to ensure ‘rejection’ of the proposed budget by the National Assembly.
I never considered their boasts, seriously, and the reason for it was pretty basic. After induction of the 18th Amendment in our Constitution, even the “deliberate absence” from the House, during head counts on the proposed budget, could lead to disqualification of a member, if it appeared ‘defying the party line.’ And most members get elected to the National Assembly through viciously contested elections. The cravings for the state patronage also force a ruling party legislator to think twice before coming into the open against a sitting government.
Fairly a significant number of the treasury benches had indeed been accumulating grievances against the Imran government. Some of them surely sounded vocal and blunt in criticising the budgetary proposals while participating in general debate on them. But they were yet not willing to go beyond that.
The ‘rebel’ sounding members also kept pronouncing, almost slavishly, that they still trusted the noble and pro-poor intentions of Prime Minister Imran Khan. But people designing the economic schemes for his government were the real problem. Most of them have not endured the heat and dust of the electoral process. They remain hooked to technocratic or bureaucratic mindset. And they failed to prepare hope-inducing proposals for the majority of farmers and marginalized sections of our society.
Instead of cleverly developing deep communication with potential ‘rebels’, top ranking opposition leaders even avoided attending most of the National Assembly sittings. Hardly a person made any serious attempt to establish covert contacts with rebel-types.
The most effective tool for creating trouble for a sitting government, during the budget session, remains the ‘cut motion.’ Through the same, opposition legislators attempt to block allocation of funds, proposed for important ministries. The performance of targeted departments is then vociferously dissected. Traveling on the said route, the opposition leaders also ensure the presence of ominous-looking numbers in the House.
But the opposition benches remained embarrassingly deserted from the first day of the process of pressing cut motions. Besides clearly reflecting the defeatist mindset, this also showed that the opposition was taking approval of the budget as ‘fait accompli.’ Its leaders were not interested in wasting time and energy by engaging in a losing battle. The government is thus rushing to final approval of the proposed budget with visible ease and comfort.
Delivering speeches in favor of half-heartedly put cut motions, most opposition members also continued repeating points they already had rubbed in, sufficiently, while delivering speeches during the general debate on budgetary proposals.
The doings of the information ministry were still discussed, somewhat sharply, during the initial hour of the Monday sitting. The opposition kept promoting the feeling that Pakistan’s media had been turned into a coercively tamed animal by the Imran government and journalists were fast looking like endangered speeches. The passionate wails failed in pushing Fawad Chaudhry to a tight corner.
Winding up the discussion, the information minister audaciously laughed at “ill-informed speeches” from the opposition benches. With absolute confidence he rather pronounced that the media was enjoying unprecedented freedom during the Imran government. Hundreds of newspapers are daily being printed; privately owned radio and TV networks are rather overcrowding the media space that was enough for establishing that media was still a lively and thriving business in this country.
He also felt proud in repeatedly asserting that instead of promoting the government’s narrative, the official media was now completely focusing on defending and promoting the state narrative’. Hardly a few journalists were not feeling comfortable with it. He didn’t question the integrity of all of them. But did insist that some critical voices in media had turned willful or naïve facilitators of the ‘disinformation war,’ Pakistan’s usual enemies had launched against it.
The agriculture sector was far more comprehensively discussed. The majority of legislators from both sides of the aisle pretend being representatives of the ‘poor farmers.’ Speaking for them, the opposition members passionately highlighted their accumulated grievances. Syed Fakhar-e-Imam, the concerned minister, is a highly successful ‘farmer’, owning huge tracts of fertile lands. His winding up speech was essentially a comprehensive lecture on ‘modern farming.’ He strongly pleaded the case that all the previous governments had callously been eluding the task of locating and finding out solutions to main hurdles to the growth of our agriculture. The Imran government is certainly behaving differently.
But the growth of agriculture needs long term planning. To produce a high yield seed to crops like cotton, for example, you need to keep trying and testing at least for eleven long years. Yet, the minister refused to endorse gloom and doom scenarios regarding the possibility of food insecurity, some opposition legislators kept presenting through their speeches.
Initially, the government thought that the number-strong opposition might be able to stretch the budget-passing exercise until the last day of June. But the visible indifference of the opposition had finally furnished the feel of a convenient walk over.
The Prime Minister was scheduled to host a dinner for legislators of the ruling alliance Monday. That clearly suggests that he expects that by Tuesday afternoon, his government will rush through all the rituals, associated with approval of the proposed budget by the National Assembly.
But in complete contrast to government’s ease and confidence, many informed economists and professionals, known for active access to global regulators and lenders like the IMF and the World Bank, are not feeling good and comfortable with the post-budget-passage scene.
They insist that Shaukat Tarin does not have more than three months to prove that his scheme succeeded in pushing Pakistan on a fast track to growth, in spite of arrogantly ignoring many points, the IMF continues to press softly but firmly. The massive increase in the rates of electricity takes the lead in the given context.
Tarin has also refused to introduce more taxes. Some of the skeptic experts claim that with the clear intent of pleasing the majority of voters, the Imran government seems adamantly forcing the local banks to lend more money for the building of houses and a large number of young people wanting to start up new businesses without appropriate collateral.
We have to watch and wait to find out who proves right in the end, Shaukat Tarin or the group of skeptic experts and professionals.