ALTHOUGH the primary function of any government, whether elected or not, is to govern effectively and provide services and development to the people, a great deal of politics is involved in the process, especially if it is an elected dispensation. Striking a balance between politics and effective governance is one of the foremost challenges of contemporary democracies. Elected governments are expected to provide better governance as they supposedly have greater awareness of people’s needs and preferences and are accountable to citizens.
In reality, many democratic countries, mostly in the developing world but now increasingly among the developed countries too, consider populism and emotive slogans appealing to religious, ethnic, provincial or national sensitivities to be a more effective strategy for electoral victory.
Pakistan has hardly seen an election where serious governance matters became poll issues. In most cases, one emotive issue or the other became the decisive factor in elections. For example, in the 1970 election, claims of exploitation of the resources of the then East Pakistan had inflamed the political climate, and the people of East Pakistan overwhelmingly voted for Sheikh Mujib who championed their rights. The 1988 election was contested in the tragic aftermath of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s execution and the PPP won while riding on a sympathy wave. The 2008 election took place against the backdrop of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination the previous year, and it was no surprise that the PPP won the election. The 2024 election was held when PTI chairman Imran Khan was in prison and his party was deprived of the right to contest elections on a common election symbol. The resultant resurgence of a sympathy wave for the PTI led to its supported candidates securing the highest share of votes and seats in the National Assembly.
Against this backdrop of repeated emotive poll campaigns, in which good governance remained effectively absent as an election issue, there was hardly any incentive for political parties to provide good governance and real development. Most of the development which took place was in the form of grand, flashy, highly visible and expensive projects, which could be completed within a short span of two to three years so that the government could take its credit before an election. The political governments, which focused relatively more on better governance and long-term development, generally failed to impress the voters as highly emotive narratives dominated the election campaigns.
In a normal democracy and stable political environment, political parties should be contesting elections on the basis of their record of providing good governance and by proposing robust plans with financing strategies — not just wish lists — to resolve governance-related bottlenecks. Political parties generally do not see the benefit in putting so much time and effort into serious work, while emotive slogans and their effective use through the mainstream and social media, with some blessings from the intelligence agencies, can do the trick and they can come to power.
One emotive issue or the other has been the decisive factor in elections.
Given this background, it was gratifying to see that the present provincial and federal governments are shifting their focus to projecting their performance in governance and development through statistics. The PPP organised a well-attended roadshow in January in Islamabad, showcasing its performance in Sindh with party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari personally leading the effort.
Hardly a fortnight goes by when the Punjab government is not launching new initiatives to address chronic governance issues. It has launched an effective garbage collection project and anti-encroachment campaign throughout the province, with even political opponents acknowledging the impact on the ground. Although it has been suspended by the court, a highly popular new law has been passed by the province to speedily end illegal occupation of immovable property in its effort to solve one of the most complex and torturous problems facing the people.
DG ISPR recently acknowledged the efforts in promoting grassroots development by the Balochistan government. These include the formation of district development committees through which Rs1 billion (to be increased to Rs3bn in the next financial year) is being spent in each district in close consultation with the people of each district. In addition, the provincial government has ended the decades-old policing duality by integrating tribal levies into the regular police force.
Although the KP chief minister is charged with the responsibility of organising street protests across Pakistan for the release of his party’s founder Imran Khan and has been spending much time visiting other provinces and undertaking many such activities which must be distracting him from his primary duties of governing, he has lately started devoting time to law and order, education and healthcare issues. The provincial government may have to devote more time and effort to governance as the people may demand a resolution of their problems. It is inappropriate to entrust a chief minister with the task of organising street protests; this should have been the responsibility of party officials.
Generally, political parties do not prepare their officials for performing governance roles in case they come to power. Politicians are well-versed in organising political rallies, street protests, election campaigns, etc. They are hardly exposed to any orientation in governance until their party comes to power and they have to dive headlong into governance roles as ministers, chief ministers and prime ministers.
In such a situation, the performance of individuals and the government is generally disappointing. A case in point is the PTI federal government from 2018 to 2022; Imran Khan had to acknowledge that the party was not ready for governance. It is important that political parties organise formal briefings and training for their officials. This is another reason why the local government tier is made effective so that political workers and officials learn their way up the governance ladder.
The writer is the president of Pakistan-based think tank Pildat.
X: @ABMPildat
Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2026
