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EACH political party that wins an election in democracies is entitled to usher in its manifesto pledges and bring in technocrats who can supervise delivery of its programme in key areas such as the economy and the social sector.
Equally, it goes without saying that any party elected to power is also responsible for its performance and can be held to account both during its term by the opposition in parliament and by the media, as also the electorate whenever it faces an election again.
So what happens when a government is found wanting in crucial areas mainly because political considerations, party loyalty to be precise, seemed to override the concern for the well-being of our most vulnerable section of society most notably children? Let me elaborate.
When Nawaz Sharif was ousted and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who followed as prime minister, survived serious attempts to destabilise his PML-N government, the polio immunisation campaign was going so well that Pakistan seemed to be on the brink of becoming polio-free.
Cases were down to low double digits. As the military operation was opening up the (now merged) tribal areas, the penetration of polio teams into the hitherto inaccessible remote areas was getting better, with an improvement in the security environment.
Some battles have to have collective ownership and continuity of effort, regardless of who is in power.
In any case, the heroic polio vaccination teams were risking life and limb even when the security situation was really bad — many instances of attacks, even leading to fatalities, were recorded but this did not dissuade them.
The PML-N government may have had strained its relations with the military as it struggled to wrest control over greater policy areas from the latter but those appointed to key roles in the battle against polio kept their eye on the ball and their polio eradication campaign remained relentless.
The change of government saw the apex structure put in place by the PML-N changed by the PTI as some committed public officials were shown the door by the new government and replaced by party loyalists. Some new steps were initiated and a system that worked was not consolidated.
Measures such as windshield stickers, calling for vaccinations, in the federal capital looked great on social and mainstream media and earned applause. But they did little to ensure that the vaccination campaign remained on track in the deeper recesses of the country.
If there ever was an awareness programme incorporating influential community leaders, it is not clear what happened to that either. The result is the disastrous and dramatic rise in infections which eventually has shaken the government into changing some key personnel.
As someone who has himself lived with what polio means, this callous adventurism — there are no other words to describe the ill-conceived top management changes to accommodate loyalists — which led to the spike in cases angers me no end. I have written in the past about my own experience.
I was fortunate to have parents whose love and care made me grow up believing I could do anything. They also had the means to ensure I got an education. I shudder to think what my physical disability would have spelt for me if manual labour were my only means to a livelihood.
In any case, we now need to collectively focus all our energies, cutting across party lines, so that our beloved country does not remain among the two or three whose children are still exposed to polio infections when even less developed nations than ours have eradicated the disease.
This week saw two more polio workers killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as they were left unguarded. The security situation may have improved but the forces themselves acknowledge that all terrorists are far from having been eliminated. These killings were the result of criminal negligence.
This has to change. Some battles have to have collective ownership and continuity of effort, regardless of who is in power. I also know this is no more than a wish, a dream as partisan considerations seem to trump all others.
One of the most non-controversial and universally lauded efforts anywhere in the world to tackle poverty was the Benazir Income Support Programme launched by the last PPP government where a cash subsidy was delivered directly to the women of the most needy households in the country.
When the PML-N government followed the PPP into power in 2013, it made some noises that it wanted to change the name of the programme but backed off in the face of criticism as even impartial observers stressed the need to further fine tune BISP rather than playing politics with it.
Now the woman put in charge of the programme, who reputedly occupies the pride of place among technocrats appointed to office by the PTI, has launched two new initiatives Kifalat and Tahaffuz under ‘BISP agency’ but with one change: Benazir Bhutto’s name and photo have been removed from the card. To me, that is petty and pointless.
The only saving grace, which enabled the PTI to save itself from more censure, was that it used the Quaid-i-Azam’s photo instead. Even then the point remains: why does the government feel so insecure when it crucially enjoys the unqualified support of the army chief? Its insecurity is inexplicable because it targets a former woman prime minister who was murdered by terrorists. But we have many firsts. This may well be another.
Given the backdrop of incompetence in vital areas exacerbated by pettiness, one earnestly hopes the government is capable of dealing with the coronavirus and has some plan in place to deal with it. The top health official, another top technocrat brought in by the PTI, has warned of its dangers.
A major issue may be Pakistan’s inability to effectively stop, screen and quarantine possible carriers among the thousands of Chinese nationals working on various CPEC projects who happened to be on home leave over the new year’s and have returned recently or are returning now.
One can hope we are able defy our own track record to stop the spread of the virus dead in its path.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020
