The first 30 days of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Prime Minister Office mark a continuity of economic and social policies initially followed by his ousted leader, Nawaz Sharif.
If bureaucrats and businesses were upbeat over a man from the corporate sector with an interest in the economy replacing an old-styled, king-like, businessman presiding over sessions on government affairs, their high hopes appear to be fading as Mr Abbasi adopts a ‘business as usual’ route.
They were happy for having been asked the right and on-spot questions but disappointed with the outcome — no policy initiative has come about as yet except for the usual statements.
This was particularly true about various sessions on health, education and similar subjects of common interest where the ‘desires’ and ‘directives’ of the new prime minister were announced even though the federal government has a limited role to play in such matters.
The hallmark of PM Abbasi’s brief stint has been the creation of a ministry of energy through restructuring the petroleum, power and water divisions. The move was part of the PML-N manifesto, but its implementation was delayed by the then leadership to ensure completion of energy projects without confusion.
The new prime minister moved quickly to centralise economic decision-making, becoming the head of key forums — in some cases by virtue of his position and in others by design — thereby curtailing Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s role as a de facto deputy prime minister. In the same breadth, the privatisation and statistics division were also separated from Mr Dar’s domain.
Mr Abbasi as PM was required to head the country’s highest decision-making National Economic Council, the Council of Common Interest (CCI), the federal cabinet and National Security Committee (NSC).
PM is under instructions from the party head to ensure continuation of policies and completion of projects launched during the last four years
He, however, made sure to personally head the ECC, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) and a series of other cabinet committees such as privatisation.
He also made sure to call and preside over at least one session of all these forums in his first 30 days in office, advised by top bureaucrats, advisers and technocrats of Nawaz Sharif to complete a cycle of briefings from all arms and wings of the federation in order to send a message of stability.
But the substance of decision-making, if any, has not been impressive. In his first speech on the floor of the national assembly, the new prime minister touched upon the need for expanding the country’s tax base and banning licences of automatic weapons to civilians.
He has seen at least three dedicated briefings on taxation policies and the economic situation but without any apparent direction to broaden the tax net.
To his embarrassment, former Interior Minister and cabinet colleague Nisar Ali Khan publicly announced that he had banned licences of automatic weapons in the initial days of the PML-N government four years ago.
The economic fundamentals have either worsened or remained unchanged since Mr Abbasi entered the PM Office on Aug 1.