First impressions
According to Daily Nawa-i-Waqt (19 August 2018), Khurshid Shah of the PPP felt that the speech by Imran Khan as Prime Minister in the National Assembly sounded as though he had been trained (tarbiat) by Lalu Prasad Yadav. He went on to highlight his disappointment with the new PM’s speech, saying that it came off as though he were leading a rally at Bhaati Gate.
Enraged complaint
In Multan, according to Daily Dunya (20 August 2018), a customer attacked a tailor with a pair of scissors, resulting in injury to the latter. The clash erupted because the customer was dissatisfied with clothes that had been sewn for the Eid holiday. Having attacked the tailor, the customer made good his escape.
Meteoric rise
Daily Jang (21 August 2018) informed its readers that Usman Buzdar was very fortunate (nihayet khush-qismet sabit huay) since he had been given the Chief Minister slot in Punjab within 100 days of having joined the now ruling PTI.
Goals
Prime Minister Imran Khan was quoted by Daily Dunya (20 August 2018) as saying that those who stole the people’s money were his enemies. He called for mass public support for his efforts, and claimed that he would make the country progress to a point where nobody would be left to collect zakat (alms).
Consideration
Pervaiz Elahi, according to Daily Jang (20 August 2018), opined that Usman Buzdar was a poor man who had become Chief Minister of Punjab, and that he should be forgiven (aik gharib admi hai jo Wazir-e-Ala Punjab muntakhib ho chukka hai, ab tou isko maaf kar dein).
Austerity
Daily Dunya (21 August 2018) reported that at the first meeting of the new federal cabinet, ministers stood up to welcome enthusiastically PM Imran Khan, and that they were served with simplicity – i.e. a cup of tea each.
Panchayat justice?
Daily Dunya (20 August 2018) reported that a panchayat in Vehari paraded a man around – standing on a donkey cart, with his face blackened and a garland of shoes around his neck. Allegedly this was because he had harassed a woman from the village. The man and his family, however, claimed that he had been punished for not voting as the panchayat had wanted him to, and that the accusation of teasing the woman was cooked up. The man further claimed that the woman being referred to was about as old as the mother of his own son – and that the police had failed to intervene to save him from public humiliation.
Zardari on misconceptions
In his Eid greetings and accompanying remarks, Asif Ali Zardari of the PPP, according to Daily Dunya (22 August 2018), stated that he saw two major challenges. One was that many people felt that their vote had been stolen, and that this threatened unity. The other was that some people had such an ego that they now thought that the people had actually elected them into power.
Disempowered?
Daily Express (25 August 2018) reported that the promise of the government to ensure that there would be no power shortages over Eid-ul-Azha proved to be an empty one (zubani dawa). Much of the burden of electricity load-shedding was put on rural and low-income areas.
How did it happen?
Siraj-ul-Haq of the Jamaat-e-Islami, according to Daily Nawa-i-Waqt (26 August 2018), claimed that those who had won the elections were themselves surprised as to how they could get so many votes.