Prof, Atta-ur-Rahman
FRS, N.I., H.I., S.I., T.I.
On 16th July 1947, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah wrote in his diary in his own handwriting that the Presidential system would be more suited for the country. He further observed that the Parliamentary system had worked well nowhere except in England. This hand written note is available on page 81 of the book entitled “The Jinnah Anthology” edited by Liaquat H. Merchant and Sharif al Mujahid published by Oxford University Press. Jinnah had obviously given much thought to the system of governance that should prevail in Pakistan but he did not live long enough to frame a constitution that corresponded to this system of governance. He had realised that the Parliamentary system of democracy would fail in Pakistan because of the stranglehold of the Zamindars—the feudals— who would dominate and hijack the system, and the rule of corruption would take over.
Alas, Jinnah’s worst fears about the Parliamentary system came true. The Parliament was taken over by powerful feudal landlords— the so called “electables” — who hijacked the democratic system and manipulated it to their own ends. The sham past democracies have resulted in massive loot and plunder, so that Pakistan stands almost bankrupt, with a massive national debt of over 30,000 billion rupees. This money is now in foreign assets of these criminal politicians while the poor suffer due to high rate of inflation forced by devaluation and other measures that were necessary.
Pakistan has been struggling with the Parliamentary system of governance for over 70 years. There have been repeated military takeovers that were necessary because the army could not stand by, while the loot and plunder continued unabated. This was due to corrupt Prime Ministers and Ministers elected through the Parliamentary system who had hijacked the judicial system by appointing their own cronies as judges. Cronies were also appointed by democratic governments at key positions in NAB, FIA, SECP, State Bank. They colluded with the corrupt leaders and cast a blind eye on the loot and plunder that went on under their noses without taking any action. The result was that a country that was once regarded as one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the 1960s sank in a pile of debt in the next 50 years.
There are 4 major advantages of the Presidential system : 1) Firstly the President is directly elected by the people, that gives legitimacy to the power exercised by him. It should not be confused with the dictatorships of the past. Pakistan has never had a Presidential democracy in its history. 2) The Presidency/government and the Legislature/Parliament are two parallel but completely independent structures. This separation of powers is essential as it allows each structure to keep a check on the other. 3) The President can act quickly and decisively when needed, without waiting for the Parliament to decide. This is essential in emergencies. 4) The President is appointed for a fixed period of time and so there is stability, while the Prime Minister can be dismissed at any time.
It is revealing that every time a military regime took over from the preceding corrupt democratic rule, there was a sharp improvement of GDP growth rate and the manufacturing sector with corresponding poverty reduction. The average annual GDP growth rate under the total 32 years of military regimes was 6.3% of GDP. However under about 40 years of democratic regimes it averaged hardly 4%, because of the massive corruption. The reason for the much better economic performance of military regimes in Pakistan as compared to the political regimes has been firstly at the significantly reduced corruption in the government, and secondly because the military is highly organized and disciplined. Better governance was also because highly competent technocrat Ministers and other professionals were selected under military regimes.
A permanent military rule is of course not the answer to our woes. We do however need to have technocrat Minsters and Secretaries who are eminent specialists in their respective fields and can conduct their duties in a highly professional manner. This is particularly important in this age of specialization with the 4th industrial revolution upon us. Induction of specialist technocrat Ministers is almost impossible under the Parliamentary system of democracy as the Ministers are selected from politicians that can be only selected from the Parliament. The Presidential system also offers a powerful check against corruption as corrupt politicians loose interest in being elected into the Parliament, since the functions of the Parliament are only to make laws. The access to power is blocked as as Ministers are chosen directly by the democratically elected President from outside the Parliament.
The Parliamentary system of democracy has been condemned by Allama Iqbal in the following words:
In the Quran (Soorah Inaam, Paraa 8, Aayat 116), we are told that if you simply follow the wishes of the majority, you will be led astray. There is no concept of “one man one vote” in Islam. Our path is that of “Shoora” (consultative system) with the learned.
With the right system of governance in place, we will be better able to face the challenges of the 4th industrial revolution that is now upon us. According to a report of McKinsey Global, there will be a 100 trillion dollar impact of the new and disruptive technologies by 2025. These include Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain, Internet of Things, Big Data, Quantum Computing, Next Generation Genomics, 3D Printing, Alternative Energy, Energy Storage Systems, Advanced Agriculture, New Materials etc.
We live in a world where truth has become far stranger than fiction. Each day brings thousands of new discoveries, many of which are transforming our lives in a multitude of ways. Knowledge is now the single most important factor for socio-economic development and science & technology are great equalisers. Countries that have realized this and invested heavily in developing their human resources to the highest possible levels and then linked these resources to the manufacture of high technology industrial and agricultural products have leaped forward, leaving others far behind. We must transition from our low value agricultural economy to a high value knowledge economy and acquire the expertise to manufacture and export high technology products.
It is high time that we adopted the path advised by Allah in the Quran, that advocated by Allama Iqbal, and that recommended by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. We must change the Constitution to introduce a suitably crafted Presidential system of democracy. This would require the guidance of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. If suo moto action was ever needed by the Supreme Court, it is in this area of governance so that the dream of Allama Iqbal and that of Mohammed Ali Jinnah can become a reality.
The writer is the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science & Technology, former Federal Minister of Science & Technology &former Chairman of Higher Education Commission.
