pakistan as i want

8/14/2019 Pakistan as I Want

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PAKISTAN AS I WANT

ECONOMICAL ASPECTS

According to my knowledge the economic progress since October 1999 are things like:

GDP growth averaging 7 percent annum over the past 3 years. Please ignore the

misery of the three years before that. Per capita income doubling to USD 800, perching

us precariously on the bottom rung of middle-income countries instead of rubbing

shoulders with the poorest nations of Africa.

Foreign exchange reserves of USD 13Billion, up from less than half a billion in1999, never mind the fact that it still represents barely 5 months of imports.

Flood of 9/11 motivated inward remittance (likely to hit USD 5.5 billion this year) and

Foreign Direct Investment (perhaps as much as USD 3 billion) eager for a share in

phenomenal returns available to risk capital in this country. The KSE-100 index leaping

tenfold from 1,200 to 12,000 propelling market capitalization to over PKR 3.5 trillion.

Before we analyze the above mentioned performance measures, please note that

the government whishes that you should ignore other embarrassing statistics such as:

1. Official Consumer price inflation of 9 percent per annum ...100% higher than it

was in October 1999.

2. The largest trade (USD 12 billion) and current account (USD 5.5 billion) deficits,

both in absolute as well as relative terms, in 60 years history of the country.

3. Serious crime statistics reflecting 100% growth over the past 6 years...with

suicide bombings, and citizen disappearances, a la Latin America, now

commonplace.

4. Provincial disenchantment and disharmony, secessionary mayhem across

Balochistan, and Taliban resurgency in NWFP. All grim reminders of a national

fabric being torn asunder.

1 Pakistan As I Want (Pakistan Studies Topic) | Qazi M. Ashfaq


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Surely, if the Government wishes to take credit for its so-called achievements, it must

acknowledge that its own policies have also saddled the nation with the horrors

summarized above. Now let us commence demolishing the icons of Government

propaganda one by one.

Conclusion:

That the country has enjoyed annual GDP growth averaging 7 percent per annum

over the past three years is in fact a "white lie". For the uninitiated, some background

first. There is a simple economic concept called the "Capital Input-Output Ratio". Put

simply, it states that annual GDP growth cannot be greater than a third of the ratio of

incremental capital formation to GDP. In other words, if our annual savings run around

10 percent of GDP (14 percent if we include inward remittances), then by the wildest

stretch of imagination, our maximum GDP growth cannot exceed 4.7 percent per annum.

So, our paternalistic Government is guilty of outright lies. Our economy...even in

these best years as claimed by the Government...has never grown at rates over 2-4

percent per annum. In fact, if we account for the 2.1 percent per annum annual growth in

our population, in per capita terms, the economy has remained almost stagnant!

How can it get away with such flimflam, you say? Well, because in its smugness

it knows that in a nation where actual literacy is less than 5%, how many know the

meaning of Input-Output ratios? The answer is Zero.

I WANT Pakistan must strive to maintain its present level of macroeconomic

stability. The most important thing needed is the will power of the ruling elite and the

continuity of structural reforms undertaken by the military government. The country is

now on the path to macroeconomic stability and is less vulnerable to external shocks than

it was a decade ago. There has been improvement in all of the major macroeconomic

indicators.

Pakistan has two options to achieve macroeconomic stability. The first option is to

depend upon external actors like the IMF and World Bank, along with other international



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financial institutions, to assist Pakistan in achieving macroeconomic stability. But

historical evidence has shown that the IFIs have been unable to solve all of Pakistan's

economic problems. There has been abundant criticism of IFI lending conditionalities in

Pakistan. I do not deny the role of these institutions in the economic development of

Pakistan, but argue for less dependence on these institutions.

The second option for Pakistan, which could be more realistic and rational, is for

it to put its own house in order to achieve macroeconomic stability. Pakistan has the

potential for economic stability, provided sound fiscal policies are pursued, economic

governance is improved, political stability is achieved, internal differences among

different segments of the society are mended, and the law and order situation is

improved. The following steps are suggested to improve Pakistan's macroeconomic

stability.

Strengthening Institutions

To begin with, there is an urgent need to continue addressing the internal security

situation. Police and the judiciary are the guardians of law and order. The military

government has already introduced reforms in the security services through a new police

ordinance. Yet the police are still over-burdened and corruption remains a problem. The

success of recent reforms is largely dependent on moving toward full implementation of

the new ordinance. Also,

Achieving Good Governance

Expanding Human Development Initiatives

Human development and economic development are high

Increasing Foreign Direct Investment

Enhancing and Sustaining a Growing GDPAchieving a Favorable Trade Balance

Managing the Debt



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POLITICAL ASPECTS

I would like to draw a sketch of Pakistans political history. What happened in

politics of Pakistan from idea of Pakistan till postponement of Election 2008.

Concept of New Country:

The concept of an independent Muslim nation emerged from the aftermath of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was founded to promote

a nationalist cause. Although the Congress attempted to include the Muslim community

in the independence struggle and some Muslims were very active in the Congress, the

majority of Muslim leaders did not trust the party, viewing it as a "Hindu-dominated"

organization. Some Muslims felt that an independent united India would inevitably be

"ruled by Hindus", and that there was a need to address the issue of the Muslim identity

within India. Thus in 1877, Syed Ameer Ali formed the Central National Muhammadan

Association to work towards the political advancement of the Muslims, but the

organisation declined towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Independence:

On the 14th and 15th of August, 1947, British India was partitioned into the newindependent Dominions of Pakistan and India respectively, with both dominions joining

the British Commonwealth. Partition left Punjab and Bengal, two of the biggest

provinces, divided between India and Pakistan. In the early days of independence, more

than two million people migrated across the new border and more than one hundred

thousand died in a spate of communal violence. In 1948, Jinnah declared in Dhaka that

Urdu would be the only state language of Pakistan.

First military era (1958-1971)

The Dominion was dissolved on 23 March, 1956 and replaced by the Islamic

Republic of Pakistan with the last Governor-General, Iskandar Mirza, as the first

president. Just two years later the military took control of the nation. Field Marshal Ayub

Khan became president and began a new system of government called Basic Democracy



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with a new constitution, by which an electoral college of 80,000 would select the

President. Ayub Khan almost lost the controversial 1965 presidential elections to Fatima

Jinnah. During Ayub's rule, relations with the United States and the West grew stronger.

Pakistan joined two formal military alliances the Baghdad Pact (later known as

CENTO) which included Iran, Iraq, and Turkey to defend the Middle East and Persian

Gulf against the Soviet Union; and SEATO which covered South-East Asia. However, the

United States adopted a policy of denying military aid to both India and Pakistan during

the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir and the Rann of Kutch.

Second democratic era (1971-1977)

Civilian rule returned after the war, when General Yahya Khan handed over

power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1972, Pakistani intelligence learned that India was close

to developing a nuclear bomb, and in response, Bhutto formed a group of engineers and

scientists, headed by nuclear scientist Abdus Salam who later won the Nobel Prize for

physics to develop nuclear devices. In 1973, Parliament approved a new constitution.

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq took power in a bloodless coup and Bhutto was later

executed, after being convicted of authorizing the murder of a political opponent, in a

controversial 4-3 split decision by the Supreme Court.

Second military era (1977-1988)

Pakistan had been a US ally for much of the Cold War, from the 1950s and as a

member of CENTO and SEATO. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan renewed and

deepened the US-Pakistan alliance. The Reagan administration in the United States

helped supply and finance an anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan, using Pakistan as a

conduit.

Third democratic era (1988-1999)

From 1988 to 1999, Pakistan was ruled by civilian governments, alternately

headed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who were each elected twice and removed

from office on charges of corruption. Economic growth declined towards the end of this



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period, hurt by the Asian financial crisis, and economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan

after its first tests of nuclear devices in 1998.

Third military era (1999-onwards)

On 12 October, 1999, Sharif attempted to dismiss army chief Pervez Musharraf

and install ISI director Khwaja Ziauddin in his place, but senior generals refused to

accept the decision. Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial

airliner to return to Pakistan. Sharif ordered the Jinnah International Airport to prevent

the landing of the airliner, which then circled the skies over Karachi. In a coup, the

generals ousted Sharif's administration and took over the airport. The plane landed with

only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and General Musharraf assumed control of the

government. He arrested Sharif and those members of his cabinet who took part in this

conspiracy. President Clinton felt that his pressure to force Sharif to withdraw Pakistani

forces from Kargil in Indian-controlled Kashmir was one of the main reason for Sharif's

disagreements with the Pakistani army. President Clinton and King Fahd pressured

Musharraf to exile Sharif to Saudi Arabia and guaranteeing he would not be involved in

politics for ten years. Sharif lived in Saudi Arabia for more than six years before moving

to London in 2005.

On May 12, 2000 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered Musharraf to hold

general elections by October 12, 2002. In an attempt to legitimize his presidency and

assure its continuance after the impending elections, he held a controversial national

referendum on April 30, 2002, which extended his presidential term to a period ending

five years after the October elections. Musharraf strengthened his position by issuing a

Legal Framework Order in August 2001 which established the constitutional basis for his

continuance in office.

While economic reforms undertaken during his regime have yielded some results,

social reform programmes appear to have met with resistance. Musharraf's power is

threatened by extremists who have grown in strength since the September 11, 2001

attacks and who are particularly angered by Musharraf's close political and military

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Services_Intelligence


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alliance with the United States, including his support of the 2001 invasion of

Afghanistan, and his liberal views on reforming Islam.

On November 3, 2007, General Musharraf proclaimed a state of emergency and

sacked the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry along with

other 14 judges of the Supreme Court. Lawyers launched a protest against this action but

they were arrested. All private media channels were banned including foreign channels.

Musharraf declared that the state of emergency would end on December 16, 2007. On

November 28, 2007, General Musharraf retired from the Army and the following day was

sworn in for a second presidential term.

On November 25, 2007, Nawaz Sharif made a second attempt to return from

exile, this time accompanied by his brother, the former Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz

Sharif. Hundreds of their supporters, including a few leaders of the party were detained

before the pair arrived at Lahore International Airport. The following day, Nawaz Sharif

filed his nomination papers for two seats in the forthcoming elections whilst Benazir

Bhutto filed for three seats including one of the reserved seats for women.

On December 27, 2007, Benazir Butto was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi

when she was assassinated by a gunman who shot her in the neck and set off a bomb,

killing 20 other people and injuring several more. The exact circumstances of the attack

remain unclear because although early reports indicated that Bhutto was hit by shrapnel

or the gunshots, the Pakistani Interior Ministry stated that she died from a skull fracture

sustained when the explosion threw Bhutto against the sunroof of her vehicle. Bhutto's

aides rejected this claim and insisted that she suffered two gunshots prior to the bomb

detonation. The Interior Ministry subsequently backtracked from its previous claim. The

Election Commission subsequently announced that the elections which had been

scheduled for 8 January 2008, were now postponed until 18 February 2008.

Conclusion

The politics of Pakistan is tremendously personalized. Democracy is still a distant

dream in this land because up-in-the-dough personalities and mammoth pressure groups

are more powerful than the institutions. The loaded politicians and the power intoxicated



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colossal throngs form their own political parties and use them as tools to ascend to throne

to rule over the public in order to fulfill their long-lasting feudalistic hunger for authority.

Thus the politics of Pakistan revolves around the commanding hammer men and the

influential bunches while the fate of democratic institutions is hanging in the balance. It

is rightly said power is intoxication and who are obsessed to abuse cannot live peacefully

without it as persons having oil burner habit feel remarkable discomfort when they fail to

get the dose. The big cheese who once assume the command feel like a fish out of water

when they are ostracized from the arena of rule.

Social aspects

(still remaining, due to shortage of time)

Over all Conclusion:

2007 was a horrible year, the worst we have suffered since 1971, when the country was

rend asunder. Though it has passed, 2007 has created the portents for 2008 to end up with

much the same consequences, just as the events of 1970 created the portents for the

disaster of 1971. Crooks were let off the hook by America's diktat and zeros were turned

into heroes by a dysfunctional government. On January 1 Musharraf was one of the most

feted leaders in the world. Come December 31 and he had been transformed himself

(nobody else did it to him) into a leader whose intentions the world suspects. No one

knows what the new year portends. Anyone making predictions has to be either an

incredible fool or incredible soothsayer. I would like to wish all of you a Happy New

Year, but I cannot be sure that it will be happy or what it will bring. In fact, I wouldn't bet

on it being happy at all but even worse than 2007. With elections postponed till February

18, no one knows what gaggle of unlikely bedfellows will form the new government and

how long it will last. But one thing is certain: it will be a motley crew of rank

opportunists with little in common except a desire for power to misgovern, loot and

plunder more. May God protect Pakistan.



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After the elections and the formation of the new government, the president should say

that he has done what he promised to, albeit after a lot of blood and tears. Now, if the new

parliament wants him to stay on as president, he would be honoured to serve the country

for another five years. Else, he would be equally happy to leave honourably. Pakistan,

you see, comes first.


pakistan as i want

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