The government is not being allowed to work
It would not be unfair to surmise that Pakistan is passing through the severest crisis of its socio-economic and political life. There is no denying the fact that Pakistan had seen a plethora of unpredictable and unprecedented row of events in the past. However, in the ongoing globalized world, Pakistan is stuck in the whirlpool of a logjam, which has the potential to extend irreparable instability to this already fragile and frail state.
All saints and sinners today are highlighting different perspectives for such a sorry state of affairs for Pakistan. But, the moot point is that there are numerous principal bottlenecks which are impeding the way of Pakistan to bring progress, peace and development to its dilapidated social structure. Thus, Pakistan is bristling with issues of political unrest, a weak party system, economic dislocation, institutional flaws, a rise in inflation and international alienation. Therefore, these areas need prompt action to rectify them in order to propel Pakistan on the path of becoming a prosperous nation.
In the current state of affairs, extreme political unrest is being witnessed in the political corridors of Pakistan. The incumbent leadership, spearheaded by Pakistan Tehreek Insaf’s Imran Khan, seems under a virtual hailstorm from around many corners of Pakistan’s polity. The PM is entirely confused over the worsening political crises in Pakistan. Unfortunately, where prudence, intelligence should have been used and a firm line was needed to be drawn, denial and irregularities are being served. The frequent changes of cabinet ministries and portfolios along with visionless policies and strategies have eroded public trust from the famous notion of ‘Naya Pakistan’. The opposition and religious political parties and a few unelected institutions have made the PTI government paralyzed and a parasite. The unavailability of a simple majority in Parliament is yet another reason for the sluggish political growth and current instability among the top tier of the PTI leadership. Not only this, the incumbent government has failed to chalk out any short-term or long-term strategies and policies to put Pakistan on the path of becoming forward looking and peaceful state as prior promised by the PTI before the elections.
Pakistan has been facing international alienation and an attitude of global degradation. The factors responsible for such a sorry state of affairs are the collapsed economic system of Pakistan, frequent incidents of terrorism, money laundering, failed diplomatic institutions and the constant lobbying by our staunch opponent, India, in the corridors of different world powers to declare Pakistan a failed and terrorist state
Furthermore, it is a well documented fact that all successful, progressive and people-oriented nations and democracies have one thing in common, and that is a strong and competitive party system. However, unfortunately, Pakistan has inherited an incompetent and weak party structure. Political parties in Pakistan are feathering their own nests at the expense of societal development and progression. The multiple party system has failed to deliver in Pakistan. It is due to the fact that these parties have become regional in nature, projecting the interest of particular groups, and have failed to adopt a national character. Not only this, they seem to exist with the sole purpose of impeding any progress of the country underway by criticizing unfairly the government of the time. No party thinks of national progress or development, but focuses on their own interests and benefits. In the current scenario, things are not different. Almost all parties under the umbrella of so called ‘democratic alliance’ are planning to destabilize the PTI government just because it is trying to work for national uplift and the long-term sustainability of peace and progress.
Pursuing this further, since the independence of Pakistan, its economy had never functioned at a smooth pace and remained prone to boom and bust episodes. The successive governments remained visionless to put a country on a path of economic stability, along with achieving the promised growth rate. Therefore, lack of tax culture, excessive corruption and money laundering, overdependence on foreign donor agencies, and inept financial managers, have extended irreparable harm to country’s economic structure. Thus the PTI government today is failing in all its attempts to bring back our dwindling economy from its flashpoint. The current government has accepted all the fair and unfair conditions made by the IMF which has promised to give $6 billion to Pakistan in the form of a loan. This deal would bring an avalanche of problems for Pakistan; such as the hike in petroleum prices (which has taken place already), a boost in daily commodities prices, increase in GST, inflation and higher electricity and gas tariffs. These dilapidated conditions of the current governance system have caused an extreme hue and cry among the poor and middle classed of Pakistani society.
Moreover, the institutions of any state specify and delimitate its sustainability, progressive nature and strong internal structure. To put it more bluntly, the stronger the institutions, the greater would be the progress. However it is really unfortunate that building strong, empowered and transparent institutions remained a far cry in Pakistan. The negligence of successive governments for institutional retooling has rent the very fabric of our already volatile society. At the current time, under the PTI government, the institutions have either stopped working or are overpowered with impunity. The elements like corruption, rubberstamping and jobbery are leading our society towards a dangerous place. The principle bottlenecks are coming from the doors of the bureaucracy, the judiciary and the legislature. Among these institutions, deep-routed mistrust and severe rift are also found which have lowered the progress graph of Pakistan. All these institutions are at cross purposes and loggerheads with each other in various issues ranging from the governance system, power sharing and their vested interest, which is ultimately putting stumbling stones in the way of present government to keep the spirits of progress alive.
Lastly, Pakistan has been facing international alienation and an attitude of global degradation. The factors responsible for such a sorry state of affairs are the collapsed economic system of Pakistan, frequent incidents of terrorism, money laundering, failed diplomatic institutions and the constant lobbying by our staunch opponent, India, in the corridors of different world powers to declare Pakistan a failed and terrorist state. The mounting pressure on Pakistan from the Paris-based financial action task force (FATF), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the USA, have further harmed its international reputation. Our foreign policy has also failed to win the hearts of neighboring countries to bring a sigh of relief on our borders.
