The government\u2019s claim that it would soon resolve the issue of unaffordable electricity is about as believable as its excuse that somebody else is always responsible for everything that goes wrong with the economy under its watch.
\nSpeaking at the Independence Day ceremony, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif assured the nation of his resolve to reduce electricity bills and regarded them unavoidable if we were to see any industrial growth.
\nA noble sentiment, indeed, but until now, his cabinet\u2019s various attempts at finding the right magic word have coincided with many saying with a straight face that there\u2019s nothing much they can do to offer relief. This demand for continued sacrifices from ordinary men and women, quite naturally, is not shared by anybody outside the government just yet; not the least because all its promises about its share of belt-tightening have so far turned out to be persistently hollow.
\nFor starters, the government has still not presented any solid line of action, as a result of which, there is no practical way of restricting tariff spikes. And even if one is able to draw the line somewhere, it is still only natural for uproar from the IPPs to ensue or the international creditors to question the status of subsidies.
\nThere\u2019s also no way of holding the government accountable in case prices do rise suddenly because it will just say that while it did what it had to, with the best of intentions no doubt, prices still moved unexpectedly because previous rulers left the economy in very bad shape; which makes no sense at all in the present context.
\nIt would\u2019ve been far better to communicate more honestly with the people. But there\u2019s nothing to suggest that this time is going to be any different.
\nAs opposed to the past, people are not willing to wait till the next election before giving a reaction. Like it or not Mr Prime Minister, their patience is running thin, as it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government\u2019s claim that it would soon resolve the issue of unaffordable electricity is about as believable as its excuse that somebody else is always responsible for everything that goes wrong with the economy under its watch. Speaking at the Independence Day ceremony, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif assured the nation of his resolve to reduce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-425097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial"},"yoast_head":"\n