Political convergence: The only way-forward
INSTEAD of getting into a huddle to stave off the looming threat to its existence caused by the common man’s disillusionment as reflected in the KP Local Bodies Poll results, one is aghast that the Prime Minister while insisting that his Government was still popular with the people, went on to dissolve his Party tiers and relied on much of the same to reorganize his political forte with barely 18 months left of his rule; with the exception of Asad Umar who despite being Imran Khan’s first casualty when removed as PTI Government’s first Finance Minister, has continued to be of reckoning.
It would have been preferable to bring Asad Umar back in the financial domain to resume where he had left off in deliberating with the IMF, in order to resist further IMF anti-people conditions which were making the rulers lose face with the common man.
The Lender needs to recognize that in asking for further raise in tariffs, opening the floodgates of inflation and price hikes, leave alone its uncalled for requirement of Pakistan to arrange Parliamentary approval for independence of the State Bank was likely to send the wrong signals.
With the Government unable to confront and defang the corrupt mafia, it would have come out with better results had it concentrated on income generation; One, by converging upon the 10 million identified non-tax filers and making them pay through law enforcement follow-up; two, raising productivity and processing of food grain, fruits and vegetables in an intensive export effort, and three, by adding on and replenishing existing touristic destinations with vigorous marketing.
These are areas in which no epidemic comes in the way.But instead of pursuing a development strategy and concurrently locking horns with rising prices in the face of fast depleting buying power of the common man as its top priority, the PTI Government is found struggling to remain current; signified by its Interior Minister’s subconscious reaction to the Opposition bluff referring to their deal with the Military Establishment for Nawaz Sharif’s return, saying that its patronage of the Government had not waned away and that relations between the two were good; a significant departure from its oft repeated rhetoric that they were on the same page.
For a performing Government, not patronage but dutiful subservience of its defence forces was automatically assured.
In the Pakistani situation barring short spurts; thrice after long military rule when the defence forces were forced to take a back seat, the infighting and myopic confrontation among the political leadership, main ones among whom were thrown up by nurseries of the Establishment; ZAB by Ayub Khan, Nawaz Sharif by Ziaul Haq and Imran Khan by the current dispensation, have all themselves to blame for frittering away the opportunity.
Example of the Turkish President, who not only quelled an imperial military uprising but further strengthened his moorings ever since taking concrete measures, is one to be emulated.
Imran Khan’s squad wasting its breath in supporting an uneven and ineffective accountability process and diverting from real issues, is exemplified by NAB’s claim to have recovered 80 billion rupees from the corrupt over the last three years; not even a miniscule of the loot and plunder, which according to a former Chairman of NAB, Admiral Fasih Bokhari, a decade ago, was over 12 billion rupees each day amounting to a fortune sufficient to turn a country around.
But what does one say to a Government in which over a hundred Parliamentarians happen to be non-filers and not an eyebrow has been raised.
To cap it, comes the new NAB Law which would reportedly provide relief to 2700 offenders besides 100 high profile cases comprising parliamentarians and bureaucrats; an NRO of sorts.
Had Pakistani leadership wished to live positively in history, they could all have taken a leaf out of successful leaders around the globe such as Mahatir Mohammad of Malaysia and Tayeb Erdogan of Turkey; the politically outspoken Turkish leader, having lately boosted his Lira by 30% against the Dollar in just one go.
A silver lining nevertheless appears to have been sensed in the transnational Rail Link between Pakistan, Iran and Turkey; which heralds the revival of the good old Regional Cooperation for Development popularly known as RCD of the sixties last century.
Had that been on course, this region today would have been exemplary for other nations. But it is never too late provided that we stay focused and are not led astray yet again.
Some spokes have already been sought to be inserted in the proposal by inimical forces questioning the feasibility of the rail link over social media in their disinformation campaign, which would be confounded by the fact that the triangular railway cuts down on travel distance among them to one third; as if that was not enough evidence for its commercial success besides forming a fraternal social bridge between the three rising nations.
The mini budget and the State Bank Autonomy Bill brought before the House amid a lot of negative Press were vehemently opposed in Parliament by their second string, but the key Opposition leaders were surprisingly absent at this critical juncture, where the political acumen of major political stakeholders was to be tested.
And the convincing manner in which Shaukat Tareen; the newly inducted Finance Minister followed up the Bill presentation with a Press conference and removed the demonized perceptions of a national sell out, a disciplined national debate among finance experts where every view point is patiently heard and logically challenged, can alone satisfy the masses as well as all stakeholders.
But a far more serious matter is the formation and announcement of the National Security Policy by the Government, because a major national strategic decision such as this, which is supposed to lay down futuristic parameters for the State construct with far-reaching consequences and is no less important than the Constitution of the country, should have been the outcome of consultations with the entire political spectrum of the country, and not doled out by a select band of civil and military leadership.
You need comprehensive political convergence over critical matters of the State, in order to matter both at home and abroad.
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
