Shehbaz Sharif seen as Pakistan's non performing PM

Islamabad, Sep 11 (IANS) Shehbaz Sharif, who is known for his governance and administrative skills in the past, is unimpressive as the Pakistani Prime Minister, The News reported.

While former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been vocal in criticising Sharif and his performance, there are many even within the ruling coalition and in the concerned quarters who are surprised why Shehbaz is not performing, The News reported.

Service delivery of the government departments, falling within the jurisdiction of the federal capital territory, is disappointing like the past whereas there seems to be no government check on the phenomenal rise of dollar rate owing to illegal flight of American currency to Afghanistan and satta (speculative buying) -- which is badly hurting the economy and market sentiment.

During his tenure as Punjab Chief Minister, Shehbaz used to have a firm grip over the bureaucracy but at the Centre, things appear to have not been in his control, The News reported.

According to one of Shehbaz's close aides, the Prime Minister's main focus so far has been the economy, which interestingly is also not being managed, and to the surprise of many, even after the IMF deal instead of getting better it is worsening.

A key economic wizard of the Shehbaz government, when approached over the reasons for unexpected rise in the dollar rate despite the IMF deal, was found totally clueless as to why it was happening and how to stop it, The News reported.

According to a source, Shehbaz has recently assigned former Prime Minister and senior PML(N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to prepare a strategy for improving governance and service delivery in the government departments. Abbasi, it is said, will present his reform strategy, when ready, to the Prime Minister for implementation.

Following his Punjab experience, the Prime Minister, after coming to power, had announced implementation of a one-dish policy for weddings in Islamabad but here, too, there are frequent violations in an area that is smaller than many divisions of the Punjab province. There is also no improvement in public dealing in the federal government departments.

It is said that Shehbaz Sharif became the Prime Minister during tough conditions -- particularly economic ones. He also depends on the ruling coalition comprising over a dozen political partners. However, there is no explanation available as to what prevents the Prime Minister from improving the performance of bureaucracy and ensuring the writ of the government, particularly in matters that are sensitive for the country's economy, The News reported.