Imran finally bowls out corrupt politicians
Imran Khan has finally succeeded to ‘bring change’ in Pakistan by becoming the 22nd Prime Minister after bowling out what he called the ‘corrupt politicians’. Bravo, captain — the next challenge it to root out corruption.
His election as premier has sent a wave of jubilation across the country, especially among overseas Pakistanis who are pinning great hope on him to transform Pakistan to what he calls ‘Naya [new] Pakistan’ — free of corruption.
It is not going to be an easy task for him as cricketer-turnedpolitician. Khan will be playing on a dangerous wicket with a very fragile government with very less margins of error. He could manage to score only 176 votes — just four more than the simple majority of 172 votes required to become prime minister. And this became possible after mustering support from small political groups and independent candidates. With this thin victory, he will always be vulnerable and under pressure from the smaller political groups who are known blackmailers.
He will also face a very strong opposition as leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have already warned against an agitation move and demanded investigation into ‘rigged’ polling by a parliamentary committee.
Five-year term
Khan who has promised to bring to book corrupt individuals and pledged to bring the looted wealth back to Pakistan, has the ability to change the fate of his country and the people. But, he needs to be a bit flexible to ensure that he completes his fiveyear-term and implements his plans. No prime minister in the history of Pakistan has completed a five-year-term, although this was the third consecutive transition of power through democratic process.
Khan has promised to end widespread graft while building an “Islamic welfare state”.
Khan’s promise of 10 million jobs and five million homes is definitely a daunting task to meet. The nation is waiting to see how he would form his team, the cabinet, to fulfil his promises of ‘Naya Pakistan’.
An election victory is the first step but the real challenge lies ahead. Imran will have to deal with myriad challenges including: revival of the economy, the fight against terrorism, effective foreign policy, health care, education, unemployment, water shortages, and a booming population negating growth in the country, among others.