THE world is changing faster than we can comprehend, yet our political imagination remains trapped in the ruins of obsolete narratives.
Nations that adapt survive; those that cling to expired myths fade into irrelevance. Pakistan today stands at such a crossroads. For decades, our ‘national interests’ have been defined by paranoia, insecurity and preservation of the past rather than preparation for the future. The time has come to redefine what truly serves the people of Pakistan, to construct new national interests that are rational, forward-looking, and rooted in peace, equality and governance reform.
The first step is to shed the emotional rigidity of the past. The Kashmir conflict, for example, has drained generations of political, diplomatic, and moral energy without producing progress or peace. A bold rethinking, accepting the Line of Control as the international bordercould transform South Asia’s political map from one of perpetual hostility to one of shared prosperity. It would free resources, mindsand policies to focus on education, development, and social welfare rather than on endless confrontation.
A new federal vision must accompany this shift. Pakistan’s federation, as currently structured, is a relic of centralized control that neither represents its diversity nor distributes its resources justly. Integrating Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as full provinceswith representation in both the National Assembly and Senate would not only complete the federation but also end the constitutional ambiguity that has long marginalized these regions. This inclusion would signal a transition from a controlled democracy to a truly representative federation.
But representation without power is meaningless. To make federalism functional, most ministries and resources should be devolved to provinces. The federal government’s role should be limited to finance, defence, foreign affairs, interior, digital regulation, climate policy, and national standards, the glue that keeps the state coherent. Everything else, health, education, agriculture, local infrastructure, and service delivery should fall squarely under provincial and local governments.
A New National Finance Accord must be negotiated to distribute resources not only among provinces but also among districts according to a transparent formula. This will ensure that fiscal equity does not stop at the provincial level but reaches the local communities where real governance happens.Moreover, a new constitution should guarantee equal human rights and social justice, not religious identity, as the foundation of citizenship. The modern state’s legitimacy lies in its ability to protect individuals’ freedoms and deliver equality before the law, not in its capacity to impose faith-based uniformity. The enforcement of fundamental rights must therefore be a constitutional imperative, not a moral option.
Political reform is equally essential. The size of national and provincial assemblies should be halved, and their functions limited strictly to legislation. The pernicious practice of allocating ‘development funds’ to lawmakers must end. Elected representatives should make laws, not build roads. Implementation and service delivery must rest with empowered local governments, the real custodians of citizen welfare.In this reimagined Pakistan, the federation should resemble both a federal and confederal structure, equal in rights, differentiated in roles. The federal government should represent the country internationally, while provincial governments should have full authority to manage their internal affairs. The task of ‘running the country’ must not mean micromanaging provinces; it must mean managing the federation itself.
The political system should remain parliamentary but be rationalized. The term of elected governments should be reduced from five to four years, short enough to discourage complacency, long enough to deliver results. No individual should serve as prime minister or chief minister for more than two terms. Leadership rotation prevents dynastic capture and institutional stagnation.Political parties too, must be reformed. Party registration should be made more rigorous to limit the number of entities on the ballot, ensuring ideological coherence rather than personality cults. Within each party, internal elections should be mandatory every three years, with at least three contenders for leadership positions. Democracy must begin inside political parties if it is to survive outside them. Gender equality should be embedded at the highest levels of governance. At least one-third of all key political offices, president, prime minister, governors, and chief ministers should be held by women. No society can claim progress when half its population remains symbolically represented but structurally excluded. Elections, finally, must be predictable. The constitution should fix the calendar month for national, provincial, and local elections (excluding by-elections), as practiced in the United States. Predictability breeds stability, the single most valuable currency in any democracy.Externally, Pakistan must replace confrontation with cooperation. It should sign No Territorial Claim, No War, and Free Trade agreements with all its neighbours. Peace and open trade are not signs of weakness; they are instruments of survival in an interconnected world. Regional prosperity cannot grow in the shadow of perpetual mistrust. This vision of new national interests demands courage, the courage to rethink, rebuild, and release ourselves from the illusions of the past. True patriotism is not about preserving inherited fears; it is about constructing a future worth inheriting. Pakistan’s destiny will not be decided by its geography or its history, but by its ability to redefine what it stands for equality, peace, dignity, and development for all. The time for new national interests is now, before history moves on without us.
The writer is PhD in Political Science, and visiting faculty at QAU Islamabad.
