Dismal show by Sharif over past year

What has been the record of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government as it completes one year in power? While the ruling coalition claims many achievements, this is not reflected in how the public rates its performance.

- MALEEHA LODHI

An Ipsos opinion survey in December found almost 80 per cent of people believed the country was going in the wrong direction. Sharif's governance has in fact been underwhelming with several of the country's challenges yet to be tackled and political stability still elusive.

A disputed general election cast a shadow over the Sharif government from the outset of its tenure and denuded it of legitimacy. The election produced a hung parliament and fragmented mandate. Imran Khan's PTI won a plurality of seats to emerge as the single largest bloc in parliament. But it was PML-N and allies backed by the establishment that formed the government, supported by the PPP.

PML-N's lack of a majority and consequent lack of self-confidence increased its dependence on the establishment, which it also needed to counter Khan and PTI. Indeed, the glue that held coalition members and the establishment together was their shared hostility to Khan.

This paved the way for the military to acquire the most extensive role yet in a civilian set-up. The post-2018 hybrid governing arrangement transformed into one in which the military became directly involved in many more spheres of governance including the economy.

This was unprecedented even by the standards of Pakistan's history of military influence over civilian governments. Sharif seemed happy to cede more space to the military leadership. This contributed to a decisive shift in the civil-military balance to the latter's advantage.

Countering PTI proved far from easy for the government. Frequent street protests by PTI and disruptions of parliamentary proceedings kept the government unsettled and preoccupied with confrontations with the opposition. May 9 and November 26 saw violent street clashes with the two sides adopting sharply conflicting narratives on what happened. Political battles were also fought on the floor of the House and in the courts.