Imran Khan’s first 100 days in charge of Pakistan
The prime minister’s first innings has been marked by chaos, conflict and capitulation. Hugh Tomlinson, Haroon Janjua and Aoun Sahi report
As he closed in on victory at Pakistan’s general election this summer, I
mran Khan set an ambitious agenda for his first 100 days in office. On the brink of claiming the job he had sought since entering politics in 1996, the World Cup-winning cricketer arrived in the prime minister’s office a man in a hurry.
The 66-year-old former star promised he would create ten million new jobs, build five million affordable new houses, stamp out corruption and reboot Pakistan’s floundering economy without seeking the foreign loans that had left previous government’s mired in debt. “I would prefer to die rather than beg for loans,” Mr Khan said.
Ordinary Pakistanis did not expect miracles but
set against those lofty ambitions, Mr Khan’s first 100 days have been chaotic and concrete achievements sparse.
The new prime minister has offered peace talks with India, warred with Donald Trump on Twitter and been forced into an string of policy U-turns, fuelling claims by opponents that Mr Khan is out of his depth and has no true principles.
The pious vow to die rather than accept foreign loans lasted mere days. Once the new premier and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party had grasped the parlous state of the economy they had inherited,
Mr Khan opened negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout of up to $12 billion (£9.5 billion). True to current form, however, Mr Khan has continued to
send mixed messages over whether he would take the IMF’s money, seeking alternative loans from China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Most damaging have been the moves to appease Islamist groups in the early days of his administration that left Mr Khan open to attack when the greatest crisis of his first 100 days struck. The acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman held on death row since 2010 on blasphemy charges,
has provoked uproar and nationwide protests among conservatives demanding she be hanged.
Mr Khan emerged as a staunch defender of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws on the campaign trail, lurching to the right in what rivals derided as a cynical appeal for conservative votes.
Now in office, however, the protests represent a direct challenge to Mr Khan’s authority and, since Ms Bibi was acquitted in October,
the prime minister has veered between pandering to the Islamists and cracking down. Ms Bibi, released from jail but barred from fleeing Pakistan, remains in hiding, fearing for her life, while Islamist leaders are rounded up and charged with treason. In the process,
Mr Khan has conceded the moral high ground and infuriated all sides.
So fearless as a cricket captain, the former star
offered a curious defence of the indecisiveness that has characterised his first 100 days.
“Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte would not have suffered losses in wars in Russia if they had taken U-turns,” Mr Khan said last month.
“Leaders should always be ready to take U-turns according to the requirement of their duties and best interests of the nation.”
Some of the chaos of the past three months can be attributed to circumstances beyond Mr Khan’s control.
The state of the economy bequeathed to him, in particular, was disastrous.
He inherited a yawning current account deficit of $18 billion, while foreign currency reserves stood at $10 billion, enough to cover just two months of imports. After the extravagant promises of the campaign, Mr Khan’s first address as prime minister warned the nation to tighten its collective belt for a period of austerity.
Pakistan in numbers
Total population 212.7 million - 95-98% who are Muslims
Average life expectancy in Pakistan : 66 years - Average life expectancy in the UK : 81 years
GDP per capita in Pakistan : $1,614 - GDP per capita in the UK : $42,514
Since then the new leader has launched a string of eye-catching initiatives to bolster tax revenues and the public purse.
The vast fleet of cars belonging to Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister, was sold at auction and Mr Khan has pressed on with efforts to seize his predecessor’s assets abroad, including the portfolio of Park Lane real estate that led to Mr Sharif’s downfall on corruption charges last year.
Mr Khan’s vow to eschew the trappings of office, in contrast to Mr Sharif’s extravagance,
was undermined when it emerged he was using a helicopter to travel home at weekends to his villa outside Islamabad. The controversy might have blown over but for the bungled response from the new administration, with Fawad Chaudhry,
the information minister. claiming the helicopter was cheaper than travelling by car, at just 55 rupees (35p) per kilometre.
The PTI’s capacity for self-inflicted wounds was further underlined when Mr Khan sacked the respected economist Atif Mian from his economic council. Despite the looming financial crisis, the prime minister
caved in to pressure from Islamist hardliners who had denounced Mr Mian as a member of the minority Ammadi community, considered heretics by some conservatives.
Two more members of the council resigned in protest but the decision appeared to establish a precedent for Mr Khan’s dealings with Islamist groups and the priorities of his administration. In October, the PTI withdrew a bill before parliament that would have toughened punishments for false blasphemy allegations, introduced by the previous government.
While he has alienated many moderates with his defence of the blasphemy laws, however, Mr Khan has also failed to convince extremists such as the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which emerged as Pakistan’s fifth-largest national party at the general election, that he is tough enough. The stage was set for a confrontation then, when Ms Bibi was acquitted and released by the Supreme Court after a decade-long case that has divided the nation.
Within hours of the verdict, t
he TLP had brought thousands on to the streets in protests. Riots in several cities left cars and buildings torched.
Mr Khan at first stood up to the protesters denouncing them as “enemies of the country”
but the prime minister quickly capitulated again, cutting a deal with the Islamists. In exchange for the rioters disbanding, the government said it would apply to
place Ms Bibi on the “exit control list”, barring her from leaving the country.
The result is a bitter stalemate. Ms Bibi now cannot leave the country despite receiving offers of asylum abroad. And while Mr Khan’s government blocked her departure to appease conservatives it has cracked down on them, arresting Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the TLP leader, and other senior Islamists on sedition and terrorism charges.
“The government has made so many U-turns on this case . . . but still Asia Bibi is suffering despite her acquittal,” said Sherry Rehman, an opposition MP.
“Mr Khan has lost all credibility, he cannot make decisions to uphold the rule of law . . . Imran Khan’s politics revolve around religion and U-turns.”
The government has defended its record, however. A website, outlining progress on the agenda for the first 100 days has belatedly been updated, though many goals remain “in progress”.
“The economy is still a challenge but the previous government left us nothing in the exchequer,” Mr Chaudry told The Times. “So we have had to prioritise. The last government had no priorities, everything revolved around Nawaz Sharif.”
Mr Khan himself has vowed to press on, with a speech last week that emphasised challenges ahead rather than tasks accomplished and warmed to a familiar theme.
“I have taken just a single day off in the first 100 days,” he said.
“I did not know the extent of theft and corruption until I came to power. Every day something new comes up.”
Cheers
.
