The performance of the PTI government during its first two years in office has simply been disappointing and has established without doubt that nobody should be elected as prime minister unless he/she has previously worked on subordinate positions.  

A person who is supposed to run the country and take decisions to cater to all situations cannot be allowed to make experiments  

Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly boasted of having done a lot for the country what no previous ruler could do.

But the on-ground situation is totally different. People are crying because of back-breaking price-hike, growing unemployment and other problems. 

This means that the benefits of whatever the PTI government has so far done have not reached the common man. 

And unless the common man sees improvement in his/her life, all claims made by the government functionaries sound baseless, hollow.

If the government has brought down the current account deficit and increased exports it means nothing for the ordinary mortals. 

The common man wants prices of food items slashed, gas/electricity bills reduced and unemployment controlled. 

For poor people, it just doesn’t matter who is the prime minister, president, governor or chief minister.

A person who, before donning the mantle of the country’s chief executive, has served as a minister or minister of state or as a functionary in the local government is supposed to have a better understanding of people’s problems and steps needed to deal with them. The performance of such people in higher positions is always better. 

But someone who lands as a ‘sky lab’ in the top office with the support of unknown hands cannot come up to people’s expectations. 

This also holds good for the chief ministers. 

Political parties would be doing a service to themselves if they choose such a person for the top slot at the centre and provinces. 

Imran Khan, without doubt, is a matchless cricketer. He won the World Cup which was a great honour for the country. 

But a good cricketer cannot necessarily be a good politician. 

His attitude so far is unbecoming of a prime minister. He doesn’t have the flexibility a premier should have to deal with allies and opponents. 

He is leading a coalition and has a majority of only a few votes in the National Assembly. To be able to retain the office of the chief executive he is required to take all allied parties along. But he appears to have alienated his allies. His opponents have already joined hands at the PDM’s platform and are trying to oust him at the earliest.  

At a luncheon the premier hosted for his coalition partners a few days ago, all participants complained that they are not taken into confidence on any matter.

The PML-Q, an important ally of the PTI, abstained from the luncheon meeting, saying their alliance was for voting only, not lunches.

A senior PML-Q leader Tariq Bashir Cheema said in a TV programme that the government is on its way out and that people have already started talking of fresh elections.

Such remarks coming from an allied party leader should be a cause of serious concern for the prime minister.  

Needless to say that the PML-Q is with the PTI because of its own interests. The day they see a change in the political weather, they would part ways with Imran Khan. 

The prime minister should also bear in mind that the establishment of langar khanas or shelter homes may be a good step but this is not the solution of the problem. It is like making the homeless people perpetually dependent on state resources.  

What is really needed is opportunities for such people to earn their own livelihood. And on this front the government has yet to take any tangible step.