A treadmill to nowhere

With the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) short-term $3 billion Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) loan programme in place and the default fears averted, it was widely hoped that the timely polls in the country would end political uncertainty in the country, putting the faltering economy on the trajectory of stability. However, the new developments surrounding the dissolution of the National Assembly just days ahead of the end of its five-year term and the installation of a rather powerful interim setup have dashed much hope and created new political economy uncertainties. Ideally, the dissolution of the assembly should have ended the uncertain political environment around the new elections, which must be conducted ‘within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly as stipulated by Article 224 of the constitution’, and inspired confidence. But the developments that took place in the last few days leading to the dissolution of the assembly and the decision to conduct new delimitations of the national and provincial constituencies have raised questions about timely elections and deepened political uncertainty in the country.