Last week, jailed PTI founder Imran Khan issued a “final call” for a protest in Islamabad on November 24 to press the party’s opposition to the “stolen mandate”, the “unjust arrests” of people, and the hurried passing of the 26th constitutional amendment bill. On the one hand, there is speculation. Given the intensity of preparation: Is “the Islamabad Police is preparing for war”? On the other hand, given Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi’s involvement in PTI matters, there is talk of a leadership crisis in PTI with some wondering if PTI “a harsh critic of dynastic politics — is now going down the dynastic and nepotistic route itself?”
Dawn (November 20) says, “Instead of broadcasting its preparedness for a ‘war’ with protesting citizens, perhaps Islamabad Police should direct its energies towards coming up with a plan on how their right to protest will be accommodated while respecting security concerns.”
To PTI, meanwhile, the editorial says, “The protesters should not be led to believe they are marching to ‘conquer’ Islamabad. The party is within its rights to organise and protest, but at the same time, it must demonstrate that it is conscious of its responsibility to ensure that its activities remain peaceful.”
News International (November 19) focuses on the internal party command and issues within the party: “The top leadership who are old and trusted are either in hiding or behind bars; those in the forefront are new to the party and mostly joined in the last two years while those in the KP government are sometimes blamed for playing both sides. Thus, there is a genuine leadership crisis that the party faces due to Khan’s imprisonment.”
Kurram tragedy
In yet another instance of violence in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area, on November 21, passenger vehicles were attacked by gunmen in the Kurram district killing 42 people. No group or organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The media underlines the violence affecting this Shia-majority area and urges the government to take action against terrorism.
The Nation (November 22) firmly believes that the national security situation in Pakistan should be the government’s priority: “At this moment, terrorism is the single biggest threat to the country. It is not PTI, not the 24th November protest, not the smog hanging over cities, nor the divisive digital wars that fill our timelines with misinformation… The time for political point-scoring or protests is over.”
Daily Times (November 22) also calls for initiatives from the government because “concrete action is needed to dismantle the networks that enable such violence.” Appealing to the government for peace in Kurram, the editorial says, “Please take enhanced security measures for the residents. Please arrange better intelligence sharing. Please listen to the local communities. Please do something. Kurram deserves peace.”
For a greener Pakistan
The Shehbaz Sharif-led government announced a New Energy Vehicle policy that aims to push green transport — the hope is that by 2030, 30 per cent of all cars sold and 50 per cent of all motorcycles and three wheelers will be electric-powered. Given the devastating smog in Lahore and other parts of Pakistan, as well as the high oil imports, this has been hailed as “a bold and ambitious step” (Express Tribune, November 22) by the media. It will both contribute to a cleaner environment while lowering expenditure.
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Express Tribune (November 22) lays out the challenges related to EVs saying, “Pakistan’s fiscal challenges, combined with the high cost of establishing and maintaining EV infrastructure, could strain public resources.” In more particular terms, the editorial adds: “Also, the plan to establish 3,000 charging stations by 2030 is ambitious for a country grappling with chronic power shortages. Ensuring that these stations are affordable and reliable will be critical for consumer confidence and widespread EV adoption.”
Dawn (November 22) discusses the issue from the perspective of the automobile dealers saying, “The policy has, unsurprisingly, upset the entrenched players in the local vehicle industry, who must be worried that it may dent the sales of automobiles they have been manufacturing with very little innovation for the past many years.”
However, the bottomline is that “powerful lobbies have too often managed to derail even the best-intentioned plans to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis… [the government] must implement its policy soon.”
