2019 – A difficult year

2019 remained a difficult year for Pakistan as the nation felt the economic and financial crunch. Prime Minister Imran Khan has raised hope for the upcoming year saying that 2020 will be the year of prosperity and job creation.

The government should be given credit for making efforts to come out of the crisis as it faced obstacles in implementing institutional and structural reforms. The prime minister has stated that the biggest change has been the one in mindsets, as the foundations for a welfare state are being laid.  The public must realize that the government needs to be supported and every citizen needs to play their due role.

PM Imran Khan certainly had to take tough decisions on the economic front as his trusted confidante Asad Umar quit the Finance Ministry. He was replaced by technocratic Hafeez Shaikh and IMF employee Reza Baqir headed the central bank. Pakistan once again swallowed the bitter pill of receiving an IMF bailout package acceding to their demands. Pakistan will have to bring stringent reforms for economic success.

Meanwhile, political opponents attempted to bring down the government but couldn’t succeed. Many stalwarts came in and out of jail for various reasons. Nawaz Sharif left abroad to lead a comfy life while Zardari is undergoing treatment in Karachi.  Many others from the opposition are facing corruption cases decrying political victimisation. The government has survived a full calendar year and seems on the course to complete its tenure.

On the political front, the greatest resistance was put up by Maulana Fazlur Rehman who launched the ‘Azadi March’ to topple the government. He received little support from other parties notably the PPP and PML-N and had to make an embarrassing retreat.  The PML-N is now leaderless while the PPP is trying to spread its mandate further with no headway, leaving the opposition in disarray.

Pakistan achieved a lot of diplomatic successes strengthening relations with Middle East countries, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, and Malaysia. Prime Minister Imran Khan had a successful visit to the United States meeting Donald Trump. Pakistan has played a vital role in the Afghan peace process. This was followed by a resounding speech at the UN Security Council highlighting Indian atrocities in Kashmir. Pakistan’s narrative on Kashmir started to be heard as India was forced to face its own problem. The setback came when Pakistan pulled out of the KL Summit, but will hopefully overcome the fallout.

The government launched various programs on social issues from shelter homes, food provision, health cards, youth loans to a digital program. The initiatives should be strengthened to benefit deserving people while more welfare programs should be implemented. Efforts should be made to reduce prices, increase incomes and employment opportunities. The economic and political problems will remain for the government but it seems the cabinet is capable of dealing with them. The upcoming year should hopefully be better and more prosperous than the one left behind.