Pakistan National Assembly (PNA)

Study Guide
LGS-JT Intra-Mun 2020
Topic; Evaluating Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf Government 2018-
2020
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf;
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a centrist Pakistani political party and current ruling party of Pakistan.PTI is
the largest party in terms of representation in the National Assembly as of the 2018 Pakistani general
election. It has over 10 million members in Pakistan and abroad, it claims to be the largest party of
Pakistan by primary membership.
Directly following its founding in 1996, the party had limited success. and Khan won a seat in the 2002
Pakistani general election. The party boycotted the 2008 election accusing fraudulent in the procedure. In
2013 it emerged as a major party with over 7.5 million votes, making it second in the number of votes and
third in the number of seats won. PTI mobilized people in rallies over public distress on various issues
and made significant gains in following elections. In 2018, it received 16.9 million votes, the largest for
any political party in Pakistan till then. It formed the government of Pakistan in coalition with 5 other
parties for the first time with Imran Khan as prime minister. As of 2020, the party is in government at the
national level and governs the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. It is also a part of the
coalition government in Balochistan and acts as the largest opposition party in Sindh.

Vision and Mission;

PTI claims that they are the Party of the ordinary Pakistani working hard to make a better future for
himself/herself and his/her family. PTI commits to providing these people a prosperous future because
they see the people of Pakistan as the wealth of Pakistan. PTI feels that the party has always dedicated
itself to the welfare of all the people of Pakistan without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, origin,
gender, or religion.

PTI claims to stand for an effective government with merit and responsiveness as the guiding
principles. PTI strongly believes that an ineffective state structure in the past has generated a crisis of
governance that has effectively marginalized everyone in the country except for a small
elite. Therefore, PTI declares that they want to end this corrupt and decaying system to build anew on the
foundations of Justice and Equity.

Government?;
The Government consists of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The Executive branch
consists of the Cabinet and is led by the Prime Minister. It is independent of the legislative branch that
consists of a bicameral parliament. The Upper House is the Senate whilst the National Assembly is the
lower house. The Judicial branch forms with the composition of the Supreme Court as an apex court,
alongside the high courts and other inferior courts. The judiciary's function is to interpret the Constitution
and federal laws and regulations.

PTI’s Government;
Legislative Matters;

A key performance indicator for any government is how well it does in the parliament, the law-making
factory. The PTI-led government was able to sail through 21 bills, from August 2019 to date. However,
during the same period, it promulgated 30 Ordinances, according to the National Assembly website and
the Printing Corporation of Pakistan. Some of the ordinances the government promulgated were such as;
Women's Property Rights Ordinance, 2019 - November 01, 2019, China Pakistan Economic Corridor
Authority Ordinance, 2019. October 08, 2019, The emergent situation resulting from the outbreak of the
coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) - April 27, 2020, National Information Technology Board Ordinance,
2019. August 27, 2019. The bills passed include; Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act, 2020. - January 11,
2020, Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Act, 2020, Superior Courts (Court Dress and
Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Act, 2020 - February 22, 2020, The United Nations (Security Council
Amendment Act) 2020 – July 30, 2020, Zainab Alert, Response and recovery Act 2020 – March 19,
2020.
PTI's government's arbitrary powers to use ordinances as an alternative to legislation outside the
parliament. Mr. Khan said that legislation would be done through presidential ordinances, adding that the
option of entering into a settlement with the opposition meant that corruption cases against their leaders
should be closed and he decided that he would never go for it.

Judiciary and the Role of the National Accountability Bureau;

Anti-corruption courts during such as Nab remained in highlight during the two-year tenure of Mr. Khan's
government with having 100+ cases in the trial but Many political figures in the country have slammed
the NAB for political victimization and there is a consensus that the opposition is being targeted. Nawaz
Sharif has stated that it is victimization in the guise of accountability and Mr. Bhutto-Zardari claims that
NAB has a black law. National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday accused
Prime Minister Imran Khan of using the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a political weapon,
adding that NAB's unjustified raid on his Model Townhouse the other day put many lives in danger. The
opposition claims that Most cases against the opposition are prepared by National Accountability Bureau
(NAB), the powerful anti-graft agency constituted by General Pervez Musharraf and still dominated by
the military. Does PTI's stance of the NAB being an independent firm? despite the NAB's claims of
unbiased accountability, higher courts have been finding otherwise and thus openly criticized the NAB
for specifically victimizing major political figures. In the earlier Hudaibia Mills case, the Supreme Court
concluded that the only motive was to pressure the Sharif family. In another case against Shehbaz Sharif
of the same family, the Lahore High Court also observed that it was selectively picked up by the NAB to
target him.
Historically, it must be stressed this law was created as a product of the coup d'étatwhich established the
military regime of General Musharraf in 1999 to target politicians and people who were against his
regime. This was done rigorously and in a rather draconian way. Even though a lot of case-law is present
on the matter, the preamble itself states the following:

"AND WHEREAS the National Assembly and the Senate stand suspended in pursuance of the
Proclamation of the fourteenth day of October 1999, and the Provisional Constitution Order No.1
of 1999, as amended;

AND WHEREAS the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which [render] is necessary to
take immediate action
The problems of the ordinary man issue still sustain. During the last five years, the number of cases
pending in the Supreme Court has gone more than double to reach the highest level for the last 15 years.
In 2006, the number of pending cases before it was 13,724. In January 2020 it was three times that.
According to the 2017-18 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, which measures whether ordinary
people can resolve their grievances through the civil justice system, Pakistan's score is the worst in the
region or 6th out of 6, and globally it's 105th out of 113.

Executive;

The PTI committed that to reform the police, it will: "Replicate the KP Police Act of 2017 across other
provinces and appoint professional inspector generals to lead the depoliticization of police similar to KP.
Professionalize police hiring and career management, ensuring no political influence on policing in all
matters from hiring, posting, and transferring of personnel. In the latest development, Deputy
Commissioners (DCs) have been given more powers to regulate and oversee the work of the police.
Under the new system, the major functions of the police would be performed by the DCS who have been
given judicial powers of 22A and 22B besides the authority of inspections of police stations that earlier
were the sole discretion of the police. During PTI's tenure the Sahiwal incident remains a proof for the
executive incompetency, where the police first claimed that they were kidnappers who were kidnapping
the children, they told the story to people at a petrol pump where they left the children of the victims.
After a video of the Khalil's son surfaced where he claimed that the deceased in the encounter were his
parents, the story took a turn and the CTD changed its stance, declaring only the driver named Zeeshan as
terrorist affiliated with ISIS.

An Ultimate Success or Failure;

Economy;

Mr. Khan remains highly criticized for his government economical performance and could not make the
economy better as promised in the PTI'S manifesto. In the energy sector, the circular debt has gone up
from Rs1100 billion in mid-2018 to more than Rs2100 billion at present. In terms of tax collection, we
were to achieve tax revenue of Rs8000 billion in two years but are barely halfway there Large-Scale
Manufacturing (LSM) declined by 5.4 percent during July-March FY2020 as compared to a 2.34 percent
decline during the same period last year. The Mining and Quarrying sector showed a negative growth of
8.82 percent during FY2020 as against 3.19 percent decline last year. The fall in GDP is strongly
correlated with a fall in the trade deficit, which had risen to a historical high of more than $50 billion,
partly due to Ishaq Dar's insistence to keep the rupee to dollar parity at Rs100. As the PTI rightly took
steps to reduce the deficit, a fall in GDP was expected, made worse by Covid-19. Pakistan also managed
to return a $ 1 billion loan out of $ 3 billion to the Saudi government.

Foreign Policy;

Since Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018, When Prime Minister Imran Khan
assumed office a year ago, in August 2018, Pakistan-United States relations were at a low point following
the Trump administration freezing aid over Pakistan's "failure" to take decisive action against the Afghan
Taliban and the Haqqani Network, the Modi government had been working to isolate Pakistan
internationally, and relations with Kabul had devolved into each country accusing the other of failing to
address cross-border militancy. Meanwhile, some expressed uncertainty over the future of Sino-Pakistan
relations due to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)'s criticism of corruption in the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. The foreign policy of Pakistan seems to have been in a position of
change. The policy change will be explained by using Hermann's three methods, which are: program
change, second, adjustment change, and last problem or goad change. Program change means that the
method of achieving foreign policy objectives has been changed. For instance, Imran khan is focusing on
the diplomatic initiative, instead of to use the military to resolve the issues with India over the Kashmir
issue. Second, the adjustment change means that change in efforts and/or scope of foreign policy. In the
case of Pakistan, Imran is working to normalize Iran-Saudi, Tehran-Washington, and Taliban-US
relations. Third, Problem/Goal Changes: the initial problem or goal that the policy addresses is replaced
or simply forfeited. In this foreign policy change, the purposes of themselves are replaced. In this case,
we will explain the "Kartarpur Corridor" which is using as soft power.

Deep Insight;
There have been multiple events during PTI's tenure that remain of utmost importance and ultimately
these set of events let the people decide how efficiently the government has worked through these? Or
how incompetent they were?.

PIA crash;

Pakistan International Airlines is the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of
the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. From the past, the airline has majorly suffered
through the years of losses. PTI's claimed to make reforms in PIA. The Primeminister states that the loss
went down during 2018 and PIA earned revenue of 146 billion as well. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP)
Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held the PTI government responsible for the Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) being barred from operating flights to European countries. He also said PIA's permit to fly
to EU countries was suspended because Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan pointed out that the
airline deploys pilots with dubious licenses.

PIA flight PK8303 crash on May 22 was devastating news for the state. In the aftermath of the tragic PIA
crash in Karachi, we are still looking for answers, but it seems that those in power are not in a mood to
oblige. While Prime Minister Imran Khan spent his Eid holidays in Nathiagali, the families of those who
died in the crash were running pillar to post to secure the remains of their loved ones. No help was
forthcoming, and it was only with the personal intervention of some kind-hearted souls that the remains
were finally identified. The Punjab government blamed the Sindh government for the lack of coordination
while both blamed the federal government. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
remains missing. PIA management also was not of much help. Officials were helping in their capacity.
And the calls for help remained unanswered from those agencies whose job it was to facilitate, Was this
the best that the PTI could do for its people during suffering times?

Karachi flooding;

Karachi is the capital of the Pakistani province of Sindh. It is the largest city in Pakistan and the seventh-
largest city proper in the world the city is Pakistan's premier industrial and financial hub but also remains
a center of problems. Karachi in the past remained the victim of terror attacks but recently a new problem
has immensely influenced the people of Karachi, the monsoon flooding. Karachi, a sprawling metropolis
of more than 20 million people, was one of the worst-hit by the urban flooding. Streets turned to rivers, as
the sheer volume of water quickly overloaded the city's dilapidated and ill-maintained drainage systems.
At least 10 bodies of citizens who had drowned to death in different nullahs and streams in the metropolis
were retrieved on Friday, a day after at least 23 deaths were reported as record-breaking rainfall lashed
the city. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Friday stated that he hoped the federal government
would fulfill its "constitutional duty" and help Sindh in the wake of the devastating rains in the province,.
Bilawal noted that not only had the rains wreaked havoc in the province's cities, but also caused immense
losses to farmers in rural areas but was only noting down the issues enough to help the people of Karachi?
According to PM Khan, the problems are:

a) Cleaning the city's stormwater drains (also called nullahs) once and for all and dealing with
encroachments that impede water channels
b) Devising a permanent solution to the city's solid waste disposal and sewerage problems
c) Resolving the critical issue of water supply

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued an update of relief and rescue operation on Friday and
according to which, three army field medical facilities have been established in Karachi's Qayyumabad,
Sarjani Town, and Sadi Town to provide immediate emergency medical care to flood victims.
The commercial businesses who had just started working after the lockdown like restaurants, small and
big stores as well as other shops across the city have remained submerged in rainwater, suffering losses
worth billions of rupees. The urban flooding has left the residents of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city,
frustrated and abandoned.

COVID 19;

The COVID‑19 pandemic, also called the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID‑19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2). It
was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization called it a Public
Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March. As of 6
September 2020, more than 26.8 million cases have been reported in more than 188 countries and
territories. Countries like the USA, India have been severely affected by the pandemic having huge
consequences to face but how did Pakistan manage the situation?
Pakistan had its first COVID positive case on 26 February 2020. The cases started in Sindh and Sindh
government immediately shut down their school and then followed Punjab. The country was put under a
nation-wide lockdown from April 1 and extended twice until 9 May. The condition of daily wagers got
worsened during the lockdown. On April 1, Khan also set up a COVID-19 relief fund; the premier urged
citizens via Twitter to donate funds to help those made destitute by the lockdown. In a lockdown, the
government launched its initiatives, including the Ehsaas Program, which has been providing cash
assistance of 12,000 rupees (approximately $75) to low-income families. Within a few weeks, the
government managed to disburse 55 billion rupees (about $344 million) to 4.6 million families that
registered for the program through a text-message service. Now, a Reuters review of government data
shows over 20,000 cases of the virus were identified in the three weeks before the lockdown was lifted,
and more than double that figure were identified in the three weeks since. The COVID cases in Pakistan
had started increasing rapidly.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lashed out at PM Imran for "his failure to lead the country" during
this global health crisis, reminding him that he was the premier of the entire country and "not just of PTI".
According to Bilawal, he had given a message at a press conference to the Centre that "we will fight this
pandemic keeping aside political differences". Bilawal Bhutto also claimed that the prime minister
alleged, the lawmakers and the people of Sindh were targeted and abused by members of the government.
The PPP chairman also criticized the federal government's inability to provide provinces with the help
required to combat the virus.
The prime minister decided a new strategy,'smart-lockdown'. The world is widely acknowledging Prime
Minister Imran Khan's smart lockdown strategy, mainly focusing balance between lives and livelihood, as
the country witnessed a steep decline from around 6,800 Covid-19 patients.
Questions to be answered;

a) How successful the PTI has remained in controlling the three pillars of a government?

b) Was Nab used as a political weapon?

c) To what extent Pakistan's economy has recovered?

d) Did PTI's foreign policy has brought support to Pakistan in its disputed matters?

e) What do the major events in the two-year tenure tell us about the ruling Party's action plans?

Reference Links;
https://pmo.gov.pk/documents/manifesto-pti.pdf

https://www.geo.tv/latest/303164-ptis-second-year-in-power-30-ordinances-21-laws

https://www.samaa.tv/money/2020/06/economic-survey-2020/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/floods-wreak-havoc-pakistans-financial-capital-karachi-
200903172030764.html

Note: Make us realize your importance throuh your words.

Best of Luck!

Written,Edited and Compiled by; Talha Aziz

For any querries email at; [email protected]