One of the really early memories of Imran Khan’s current regime was the austerity measures he announced and implemented upon.
Today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan tweeted that “I will not be going to any private function with protocol & security”, adding that he will look over the protocols and securities for his provincial counterparts and governors.
He said, “I am also reviewing protocol & security for ministers, governors & PTI CMs to decide how we can minimize expenditure & end public inconvenience.”
To save taxpayer money & avoid inconvenience to the public I will not be going to any private function with protocol & security. I am also reviewing protocol & security for ministers, governors & PTI CMs to decide how we can minimise expenditure & end public inconvenience.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 6, 2021
Adding to it Prime Minister Imran Khan said that next week, the cabinet would form a comprehensive policy on the matter. He said, “We will put an end to the colonial legacy of pomp & glory used to overwhelm the people.”
Next week Cabinet will decide on a comprehensive policy in this regard. We will put an end to the colonial legacy of pomp & glory used to overwhelm the people.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 6, 2021
It is not new for PM Khan to digress from the conventional practices and protocols followed by people of his status in the past.
Just last month he paid a surprise visit to different localities of the federal capital without any protocol.
The premier himself drove the car and inspected the business activities, implementation of Covid-19 SOPs as well as development works. In the video shared by the prime minister’s office, he can be seen driving around with music played in the background.
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He paid a visit to the market without any protocol and was warmly welcomed by the bystanders, pushcarts owners, residents, and shopkeepers.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان کا اسلام آباد ریڑھی بان مارکیٹ کا دورہ۔
وزیر اعظم نے خود گاڑی چلاتے ہوئے جائزہ لیا pic.twitter.com/HcIFZDWz8z
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) June 21, 2021
May 2021 was his first appearance. A Pakistani PM had defied norms by visiting several areas of Islamabad without any protocol. He was accompanied by the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Aamir Ahmed Ali.
It must be mentioned that a recent incident came to light where a personal staff officer (PSO) of Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar allegedly misused a government-owned helicopter.
The controversy erupted after the news of the misuse of CM Usman Buzdar’s helicopter by his PSO Haider Ali’s friends from Lahore to Faisalabad went viral on Saturday where the people on board could be seen taking selfies and filming the aerial view of Lahore from the chopper.
Mr. Ali denied the claims and said, “I will resign from service if it is ascertained that I allowed the helicopter’s flight to Faisalabad for the friends of my relative”.
VIP Culture in Pakistan
“VIP Culture” has been a very prominent negative point of governments in the past, where people suffered as the leaders used the money for exorbitant spending on their own security.
Examples from the past include when in 2010, a woman in Quetta delivered a baby boy in a rickshaw during traffic jam and closure of the road caused by Mr. Zardari’s protocol.
Similarly, in 2014, Tahir Malik was riding a motorcycle with his brother, Waheed, through Defence in Lahore distributing meat among relatives when they crossed paths with the motorcade of Abdul Qadir Gilani, Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son. They exchanged hot words with one of the guards in Gilani’s motorcade following which one of the guards shot Tahir.
As a result, Tahir died on the spot.
Speeding cars accompanying Nawaz Sharif’s ‘homecoming’ motorcade crushed a nine-year-old child to death in Lalamusa in 2017.
These are a few of the many such examples of common people’s suffering, as their elected representatives’ security took priority over their lives.
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Imran Khan has always been promoting austerity in the government. Reportedly, Khan’s last 12 foreign trips to three continents cost a total of $680,000, less than half of the expenditures incurred on one visit, each, by former president Asif Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to New York.