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Pakistan's new government may be anxiously trying to put out the proverbial political fires caused by the political disagreements between some of its key members while the country's economic challenges grow rapidly.
The major emerging irritant comes more from the failure of the new regime to deal with the difficulties faced by Pakistan's mainstream population, at a time when the world economy is in the midst of a downturn.
Within Pakistan, the top of the list of popular woes comes the issue of essential commodities. Many Pakistanis, especially those from low and middle income groups, have lamented the fast-rising food prices in the past year.
Other key woes relate to challenges such as rapidly growing electricity shortages, which on Monday provoked some of the worst riots in recent memory, in the city of Multan, the home town of prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Images of rioters armed with weapons going around and attacking different sites is unprecedented even going by the legacy of violence in Pakistan.
The riots were joined by angry textile workers who protested their job losses caused by long power cuts, which have led to falling industrial production and resulted in falling incomes. The woes of the economy have not been helped by the latest bout of rainfall in parts of Pakistan, which would damage the wheat crop that is about to be harvested.
In the short term, the biggest challenge emanates from tackling problems related to infrastructural deficiencies and food shortages. The new government is right when it says that these are problems which it inherited from its predecessors. And yet, the new regime's case weakens when judged against the issue of its ability or lack of it to chart a new course.
A statement attributed to Raja Pervez Ashraf, the new minister of water and power, said it all. During a visit to Karachi last week, the minister said publicly that he was not in favour of forced measures to conserve electricity, responding to questions on initiatives such as forcing some of Pakistan's largest markets to shorten their work duration, in order to save power. The statement surprised many Pakistanis who expect firm action by the new government at a time when the crisis caused by electricity shortages is staring the country right in its face.
The government also has to review its policy towards agricultural productivity and enforcement of price controls at a time when the Pakistani public is faced with food shortages-a familiar outcry across much of the world. The breakdown of government administration in recent years has essentially meant that the regime in power today is just not able to enforce controls on prices of food commodities.
Farm income
To make matters worse, the entire structure which would have become handy to rejuvenate farm incomes, is badly tarnished across Pakistan. Consequently, the country is not able to rapidly increase its farm incomes to cope with rising demand. If the new prime minister is just able to oversee the enforcement of tough price controls in the short term, his ability to turn around Pakistan's future may improve considerably.
Once the public knows that unscrupulous traders who hoard food commodities to sell them in the black market are taken to task, popular support for the government is bound to improve. This is then bound to translate in to an overall improvement in the mood which prevails across Pakistan today.
On the other hand, the government's failure to tackle this popular malaise may cost it politically, especially if the riots on Monday become a more prevalent feature across Pakistan.
The writer is a journalist based in Pakistan.
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