Electioneering time has arrived once again. The season for big rallies, it seems, has started in real earnest. If there is one clarion call that is heard from nearly every rostrum, it is the call for bringing in real economic change this time and not like the promises that were made by some from time to time and for one reason or the other they could not have been realised. In more than sixty years of our history of economic development, every decade has announced and promised to usher in some revolution or the other.
Revolutions are a rare phenomenon in history. In the last two centuries, very few socio-economic revolutions have happened and not with very predictable results. The greater development in economic terms has occurred through the process of evolution. Despite history being full of wars in one period or the other, it is the marketplace of innovation, scientific discoveries and major inventions that has driven the economic development of mankind. From the times of stone-age when implements could be carved out of hard substances man arrived in the iron age to make use of this remarkable metal. By gradually understanding the forces of nature, man learnt to harness the forces to his advantage.
Ever since 1947, Pakistan’s economic development has oscillated between extreme goals. In the electioneering process there were very few occasions when the political leadership gave a clear economic manifesto. This is not to say that the political process is totally devoid of sloganeering but there must be some link between the political maneuvering and real ground realities. It is accepted that colonial times were not very conducive for democratic and economic thought to develop. But again it was a propitious time to have learnt a few basic truths about the mechanism of the marketplace. Through great development of politico-socio-economic thought in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, we came to understand the complex phenomenon of running an economy in turbulent as well as peaceful times.
In Britain, there used to be a massive shift in economic policies every time the government changed from the conservatives to labour and vice versa. Here, in our country, there was a remarkable change in economic policies after the elections of 1970. The shift to a little left of center altered the shape of the economy in many ways. But the policies of the eighties were a mere hotchpotch of make-believe theories of economic features whose contours were not clearly discernible. A shift to the right of center should have been more clearly defined and adhered to. A great effort was launched in the nineties to remedy the ills and kick-start an ailing economy, but no government lasted long enough to bring any substantial difference in real economic terms.
The need of the times is to clearly outline the economic policies for the future plan of action. The electioneering process must delineate the contours of economic policy each political party wishes to pursue if elected to govern. The eighties and the nineties were good times to advance economically, when third world economies benefitted from the expansions of the international economy. Now, in the second decade of the twenty first century, we need to catch up in many areas of economic development. Twenty years ago, there were not many developing countries that showed signs of adhering to good economic policies. But now there are many countries in the world which have made good strides in economic development. The availability of economic statistics of many workable models makes it easier for us to follow sensible policies to achieve more desirable results. We need to have strong faith that in the coming elections. Stakeholders must present and subsequently follow clear policies and economic goals instead of just indulging in sloganeering.
The writer has served as consultant to the United Nations and developing economies on the issues of trade and development and can be reached at amjadriazzz@yahoo.com