New team
We now know the team that will be leading our nation over the coming years. A 25-member federal cabinet, including 16 full-fledged ministers and nine ministers of state was sworn in on Friday, setting in place the new government in the centre. Some portfolios awarded were already known, while in other cases younger people have been appointed to chalk out the way ahead. As we had already been told, Ishaq Dar takes over the critical portfolio of finance. His attempts to resuscitate a dying economy will determine much about the nature of the years ahead. Others who will play a decisive role in how matters are run include Chaudhry Nisar Ali who takes charge as interior minister, Khawaja Asif who will handle water and power, Ahsan Iqbal who is to run planning and development, Pervaiz Rashid who will handle information, Khawaja Saad Rafique who must get the railways running again, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who is to manage the petroleum ministry and Zahid Hamid who will be the new law minister. Veteran economist Sartaj Aziz is to advise on foreign affairs and national security and Tareq Fatemi will serve as a special assistant on foreign affairs. For now at least the prime minister has opted to keep both the defence and foreign affairs portfolios himself. A few other key appointments are expected later.
The new cabinet has certainly wasted no time in springing into action. With the annual budget due to be announced in a few days time, Ishaq Dar has already been working from his Lahore residence on key issues concerning our dwindling finances. Immediately after being appointed, Chaudhry Nisar Ali has convened a meeting to obtain a full briefing on the very troubled law and order situation, and promised to work closely with the provinces on this issue. The devolution of many functions of governance to the provinces under the 18th Amendment calls for some adjustments at all levels and close cooperation between the centre and all federating units. The new information minister, Pervaiz Rashid, has also spoken of his plans – promising that secret funds will not be used for political purposes, that the media will continue to be briefed on key issues and its advice will also be sought. Yes, there has been some criticism of the cabinet selection, with at least 20 of its members hailing from Punjab and no woman appointed as a full-fledged minister. But what people really want to see now is performance – other factors are relatively irrelevant and it is this that will determine how the next government is seen. Certainly, we need it to work well to rescue a floundering country.
The trophy jinx
In the lead up to the ICC Champions Trophy which exploded into action in Britain on June 6, Pakistan was seen as one of the favourites for the coveted title. But within a span of a single match, the Pakistanis have dropped from being major contenders to a team that is in clear and present danger of falling at the first hurdle. Their narrow two-wicket loss against the West Indies in a low-scoring thriller at The Oval on Friday has put Pakistan in a must-win situation as they cannot afford to falter in their remaining group matches against South Africa on Monday and arch-rivals India on June 15. A loss in either of the two games, both to be played in Birmingham, will most probably bring Pakistan’s campaign to a grinding halt.
It is a bit of a gloomy scenario but captain Misbah-ul-Haq still managed to put up a brave face following his team’s morale-shattering defeat against the Caribbean side, stressing that the Pakistani team has a history of countering such difficult situations. He urged his troops to remain positive and give their best, adding that the team has the guts to bounce back with a vengeance. But Misbah might be overestimating the Pakistan side, which has never won the Champions Trophy. The veteran batsmen himself is in fine nick, something he proved again with an unbeaten 96 in the lost cause against the West Indies. But most of his other batsmen have been far from convincing. Even senior pros like vice-captain Mohammad Hafeez or former skipper Shoaib Malik have exhibited sheer ineptness against quality bowlers in the rather challenging English conditions – an alarming sign for Pakistan. This shows that despite having hired so-called qualified international coaches, the batting problem – which has been Pakistan’s Achilles heel for quite some time now – remains unresolved. Pakistan’s bowlers are looking sharp but unless the batting line delivers it will be really tough for the team to produce the sort of results it needs to progress to the Champions Trophy semi-finals. At a time when the attention of the entire nation is focused on our cricket team, it is really important that Misbah and his men put up a fight. Only our bowlers did that in the first match. Otherwise, their Champions Trophy jinx will stay unbroken.
Turkish turmoil
Much of Turkey is in ferment, with the anti-government protests that started on May 28 gradually spreading. The nature of the Turkish disturbances is complex, but at their heart is an attempt by Prime Minister Erdogan to convert Turkey from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential form of governance and to preserve his own hold on power. At first the protesters – mostly young and secular – were angered at what they saw as the desecration of the Taksim Gezi Park, with the demolition of walls and the uprooting of trees attracting the ire of environmentalists. The demonstration became violent on the night of May 30 as the demonstrators were joined by members of the opposition Republican People’s Party, and the complexion of the protest changed from being environmentalist to an expression of anger against the ruling Justice and Development Party.
Prime Minister Erdogan blamed the protests on ‘wild extremists’ and at one point railed against Twitter and other social media sites as being dangerous and trying to undermine the state. He did admit that the police used excessive force against the demonstrators – which did not stop 5,000 protestors stoning the PM’s office in Besiktas in Istanbul on June 1. The Turkish PM is not without his supporters, but the government’s stance is increasingly exposing the polarities in Turkish society as well as the vulnerabilities of the ruling regime. The protesters see the government trying to undermine the principles on which the modern state of Turkey was founded by Attaturk – a government set on modifying the liberal secular nature of the state to one that is more authoritarian. For the moment there is no real threat to the Erdogan government. The protesters number in the tens rather than the hundreds of thousands, and encompass a relatively narrow demographic – the young. That dynamic could shift were this anti-government movement to gain strength and numbers and begin to infiltrate areas where the government has typically held exclusive sway. All of this comes at a time of general regional unrest and also at a moment when Turkey is absorbing the fallout from the Syrian conflict on its eastern borders. But a ‘Turkish spring’? Not yet.