ACCORDING to the United Nations Economic Survey Report-2024, released in April 2024, political unrest in Pakistan is the real cause of its economic instability. Political unrest has caused adverse effects on the business and trade of Pakistan. Besides, owing to the unstable political environment, local and international investors are hesitant to invest in Pakistan. Leaving aside the foreign investment, the local investors of Pakistan have been found shifting their assets away from Pakistan. Indeed, there is a direct relationship between political stability and economic stability in any country. Political stability is precursor to economic stability and development. Similarly, political instability becomes the sole reason for economic instability, social poverty and social unrest. There are four broad contours of political instability: (a) coalition and weak governments, (b) the propensity for regime or else government change, (c) the incidence of political upheaval and violence in the society and (d) instabilities in policies of the governments and (e) lack of good governance.
Political instability is regarded by global economists as a serious malaise, harmful to the economic performance of a state. Political instability in a state shortens policymakers’ options for making stable and long-term economic policies. It compels economists to make sub-optimal short-term macroeconomic policies. It may also lead to a more frequent switch of policies, creating volatility and thus, negatively affecting macroeconomics. Pakistan is facing the malaise of political instability besides many other factors in its fragile political system. Unfortunately, political polarization among political parties is rampant in Pakistan. This process further creates polarization in the parliament of Pakistan. The coalition governments of more than one political party always try to exploit the system in their favour. This happened frequently from 2018 to-date. PTI and Coalition Government of PDM neither performed politically nor economically, giving way to economic down-fall, political uncertainties and social unrest.
In fact, the frequency of government changes and frequent interferences has further destabilized the process of political stability and economic development in Pakistan. The main condition for a country to achieve stable economic growth is a strong and stable political structure. A strong and stable political authority will eliminate many looming uncertainties in the state. With the support of such a strong policy, the economy will ensure stable growth. The unstable structure in politics is the most damaging factor for economic performance and stability. As a nation the people of Pakistan will have to collectively think about where we are heading and what is our destiny? Since the last five years, there has been a storm of inflation reaching over 40%, causing abject poverty among the society. The Sensitive Price Index (SPI) reported a year-on-year increase of 43.79 %, as disclosed by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) in January 2024.
Practically the middle class is disappearing in Pakistan with two clear distinctions: the rich class of the elite and poor class of the street. There is an unjust distribution of resources and wealth in the country; pushing the people towards despair, uncertainty and chaos. The process breeds unrest in the society, thus further driving the society towards intolerance, extremism, hatred and militancy. This is a very bad state of affairs in the country. The reasons are very common and simple to understand. These include: political instability, bad governance, poor economic management and people’s deprivation at socio-economic and socio-political levels.
Taking Nigeria as the case study, this country has abundant natural resources and human capital. Unfortunately, Nigeria has fallen victim to political instability, followed by high-level corruption, bad governance and a cyclical legitimacy crisis. Consequently, national development is retarded and the political environment has become uncertain. The leadership of the state is facing the issues of legitimacy with political intrigues. Otherwise the country is an ethnically-differentiated polity with clear fault-lines. In this country, political gladiators constantly manipulated the people and the political processes to advance their own selfish agenda, resultantly, society remained pauperized and the people floundered with abject poverty. Over the years, the people of Nigeria have lost faith in their political leaders and political system. Today, this hydrocarbon rich state is facing serious economic crises which are mainly the outcome of bad political instability, bad governance, rampant corruption and economic impoverishment.
Political instability emanates from selfish leadership and bad governance which further impacts economic development. Governance system comprises a process of governing undertaken by the government of a state through various means. Good governance is a way of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources in an efficient manner. The concept of Good Governance emerges as a model to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies. Good Governance includes: participation, consensus, orientation, accountability, transparency, responsiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, equitability and the rule of law. Bad Governance is the unfavourable relationship between those who govern and the ones being governed. What makes governance of any society bad hangs on rule of law and accountability of those breaking the laws.
As a way forward, the ruling elite should follow a statesmanship approach while dealing with the political and economic affairs of the state. This approach calls for prioritizing the well-being and prosperity of the state and the masses over and above the political parties. The focus should be on the long-term political stability and economic health of the state. Run the state through a set of long-term political and economic policies rather than the day to day business of the state. Let there be political and institutional consensus on the issues of national interests without any bias. Envisage and frame a better governance system for an efficient public service. Create better working conditions for the investors and masses. Reform the judicial system for timely disburdenment of justice to everyone. The key to success is: trust building between state, society, political forces and institutions of Pakistan.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
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