Challenges on the road to Naya Pakistan

• The end is just a beginning!

While the general elections 2018 have been called by many as the most critical in the democratic history of Pakistan, others have termed it as the dirtiest in the history in terms of pre-poll manipulation, and engineering, imprinting the prevalence of democratic norms in the long run with grave, and undesirable consequences.

Now, as the nation votes, it is imperative for us as a nation to move beyond the obvious, and look through the spectrum of very real challenges that have not only haunted us in the past, but continue to stare at Pakistan.

Whichever political party prevails in the elections, and goes on to make the government in the center must brace itself for being welcomed by a spread-out carpet of thorns to walk on; as soon as it sets its feet on the ground with the announcement of election results.

Whereas the challenges can, and do outnumber words, the great five awaiting both short, and long-term planning, and execution, now from the future government, include the following:

The first and the foremost challenge that seeks immediate thought, and action is national security, faced off with threats both, internal as well as external. Pakistan, bearing a critical geo-strategic position in the region, has always shared a troubled eastern border with the hostile neighbour, India, amid the ongoing global war on terror, now, finds itself in the midst of a vulnerable security paradigm threatening not only the true religious ideologies, and spirit, but also the national outlook.

Although Pakistan, as a frontline state, has made landmark achievements to come this far in the war on terror, the realisation of fact that what took us here, won’t take us there is of paramount significance. This is, exactly, where the role of the new government comes in; as the national security policy on violent extremism, and terrorism needs to be revisited in order to be more effective on ground, as the world will not be willing to spare a nuclear power, labelled as a terrorist state.

Continuing on the old road will only lead us to old destinations. For new, the incoming parliament must innovate.

Economic turnaround has remained an unfulfilled dream of Pakistan for long, and second on the list of challenges for the new sheriff that takes charge. While abject economic state is inherited from previous governments, turning around the economy through major economic reforms, encouraging and inducing the investors, both local as well as foreign, to invest in various sectors, and enhancing the inflow of money into the system should be critical tasks on the agenda of the new government. Self-reliance through enabling the growth of industries at home must remain a key focus.

The top two are linked, if not directly then certainly indirectly, with the third obstacle to the success of an expected change in the political scenario of the country; what we call an aggressive diplomatic outreach. While our diplomacy, until a couple of years back, remained passive for the taking, and with our options on diplomatic ties shrinking, it is essential for the future prime minister to expand the horizon of options on diplomatic ties for Pakistan based on mutual interest, and sustainable long-term partnership.

While looking to the west is no longer a stand-alone workable option for Pakistan, the incoming leadership must work towards exploring potential new partnerships at regional, as well as global scale, and focus greatly on the Look East policy.

Pakistan’s case in the war on terror to be fought vigorously at the international stage requires an aggressively proactive diplomacy. Subject to a distorted image at international level, our diplomatic isolation dreamt by many, as of now, can very well become a bitter reality.

Abundance in water and energy is another major challenge amid the recent water crisis. While some encouraging steps by the previous government have ensured an improvement in provision of electricity to the public, and the industry, building new water reservoirs has very much remained at the backburner. Building dams is a mandatory pre-requisite, not only to meet the water needs of the country, but also to enhance the power generation capacity. However, the challenge is not just to build the dams, but to ensure the availability of required developmental funds, along with political consensus on the same.

Last but definitely not the least, social development, having remained nothing less than an embarrassment till date, will be a key challenge. Improving the education infrastructure, syllabus, and quality; and provision of health facilities at the very grass root level to the public must also be on the to-do list of the future government.

While the list can go on forever in case of Pakistan, particularly, whosoever emerges as the winner in the elections, and goes on to form the government, must at least meet the aforesaid challenges on its priority list, and subject to meeting these challenges, rest assured all the claims, no matter how tall and unrealistic, will gain public acceptance, and acknowledgement.

Irrespective of who wins the election, at this point in time, it is critical to unite as a nation, and extend our helping hand to whoever takes the office of the prime minister; for time is short, and the tasks are tall, and critical to our survival.

Signing off from general election 2018 with a prayer that may not just the best man win, but the one who wins turns out to be the best in turn as well.