Since my childhood years, I have been hearing/listening, reading and watching on TV channels, the ‘challenges’ that our beloved nation is perennially confronted with. Infact, whilst I was reading our Quaid’s interview, published by the then famous, ‘LIFE’ magazine of the USA in July, 1948, I came across his views about the challenges the nascent and newly independent country was facing then... regrettably, not much has changed. The change that stares at us blatantly is that, the change has been more for worse than good.
Since my childhood years, I have been hearing/listening, reading and watching on TV channels, the ‘challenges’ that our beloved nation is perennially confronted with. Infact, whilst I was reading our Quaid’s interview, published by the then famous, ‘LIFE’ magazine of the USA in July, 1948, I came across his views about the challenges the nascent and newly independent country was facing then... regrettably, not much has changed. The change that stares at us blatantly is that, the change has been more for worse than good.
Within twenty five years of our existence, the country was ravaged by three wars that eventually led to its truncation. That was 1971. The challenges Z.A. Bhutto cited in 1971, December; Ziaul Haq did in 1977; Benazir Bhutto did in 1988; Nawaz Sharif did in 1990 ... and so on for the entire decade of the nineties; General Prevez Musharraf did repeat the same challenges in 1999 … post his departure every incoming leader under the self illusion of being in democratic dispensation, said and quoted, the very same challenges ... from internal security concerns to external threats; from depleting foreign currency reserves to declining value of Pakistani rupee; from inadequate tax collection to declining tax to GDP ratio; from loss of revenues to increasing expenditures; from debt to circular debt ... the list is the same, as much as it seems endless. So the problem is not unknown to us. We are fully cognisant of the issues, none are masked or hidden. They continue to shine with their inglorious effect upon us each day.
Since we know our problems for so many decades, does it mean we have no solutions to resolve them; or is it a case of mass incompetence, that we are unable to untangle from the gridlock, we have tied upon ourselves, since the decade of the fifties, by taking handouts from ‘friends’, first under the Marshall Plan and later through even more friendlier multinational and national financial institutions’. The onset of acquiring a parasitic nature had begun to take roots, post the 1965 war.
Repeatedly, we continue to trumpet, how important is our geographic location … strategic and vital ... but for whom and to achieve what purpose? We have failed to utilise this natural endowment of sitting at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, with the cast Arabian Sea, at our disposal. After 76 years of existence, the importance of exploiting the concept of ‘Blue Economy’ dawns upon us ... and yet we still have no policy initiative or direction on this critical issue/advantage. We are rich in mineral resources. However, we are either suffering from inertia of imagination or fatigue of saying the same thing over and over again; expecting different results. Nay, it doesn’t happen in this sequence.
We have a miserable history of five-year economic planning. Looking at the Soviet Union and to a lesser degree at the socialist program of Jawaharlal Nehru in the neighbourhood, Pakistan embarked upon its first five year plan in 1950 ... ending with seven more till year 2001/2; each more disastrous than the previous one. Some industrialisation did take place in the 1960’s, by and large; however the success was short lived, in view of the introduction of nationalisation of key industry in Pakistan.
The first five year plan was doomed in view of its undue emphasis on industrialisation. The second one too, was focused on industrial development and the results were good. The remaining were of no significance.
Policy making has been a weak area for us, especially long term policies. We get impatient and tired; hence new tricks are tried and the policy document goes down the drain. The implementation and subsequent post evaluation practices are no good either. Policies, the good ones in particular, are victims of political manipulation and manoeuvres. Public policies aren’t meant to be discussed in public meetings. Policies must be framed in consultation with the stakeholders who would be impacted the most. Preparing a policy document in isolation or unilaterally, usually ends up in a roll back, which not only is damaging for investors confidence but is seriously embarrassing for the government of the day.
“Public policy is a study in imperfection. It involves imperfect people with imperfect information. Facing deeply imperfect choices ... so it is not surprising that they are getting imperfect results.”
Policies shouldn’t be tilted towards benefitting or hurting a directed segment of the society/economy; we can recall here the golden era of intellectual corruption, vis a vis SRO’s --- which used to be issued by the dozens and withdrawn with great speed, once the benefit had accrued. Policies must ensure maintenance of equilibrium and also equal opportunity for all, with no exceptions. Quotas are not a good tool in policy making; they are used/abused for political reasons and give meteoric rise to nepotism.
Policies to remain sound and implementable must have beneath them a very strong foundation of logic and reasoning ... presumptuous or wishful thinking, or day dreaming shouldn’t be the edifice of any initiative. John F Kennedy had summed up the distinction between domestic policy and external policy in the following words, “Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us”. These remarks were made in the earth 1960’s; today the two are strongly intertwined, that a tweak here, creates a ruckus there...
Unlike other countries we are also guilty of not being consistent with our policy framework. Every incoming government considers it to be a religious duty to undo the good work of previous administrations. Nations progress with consistent long term policies. Since the Second World War, Japan has had 44 different prime ministers and Italy for the same period had 30 and Pakistan since 1947 has had 23 prime ministers ... So how is it that Italy and Japan have progressed at lightning speed despite the change over of governments in Tokyo and Rome? The answer is continuity of an agreed economic path and policies. We have failed because of repeated intrusions in the implementation of policies.
I recall reading either on Google or in a book, “in a civilised society we are all Kings, we are all policy makers. The world advances when we advance as its fervent keeper. Disparity is not a policy issue; it is an education issue. Without humanity, all prayer is pestilence, all policy is fallacy, all law is lethargy” ... whoever framed these words, I wonder if he/she was zooming upon our country. The dilemma is we write a good policy and in quick time it becomes a permanent resident of the archives ... and in its place a policy would be under preparation.
Our country needs to have a unified framework for the economy, at least on the broad areas of engagement for continuity purposes. Amongst all the top politicians of our country, undoubtedly the person with business insight and acumen is Present Asif Ali Zardari ... a politician, an agriculturalist and a keen businessman. His economic foresight is not only long term but is also beyond himself. He is thinking of the country thirty years from now … but the work has to begin now, today. It was President Zardari who gave impetus to CPEC and the reinforcements into our relationships with friendly countries. On an informal basis, the economic team of the government should seek his views while setting the sails. He will ensure permanence and long term commitment.
Change is inevitable, growth is optional. We just cannot change the future of our nation by mere opinion or opinions expressed in TV studios or drawing rooms. Only by example and implementation can progress be had. If today, we remain, as we were yesterday, we are doomed to remain the same in the future too. It is time politicians focus on the state of the economy without hollow trumpeting but they also must allocate time to see that policies are developed, for which reason political activity should be a part time endeavour.
The country needs more and more policy leaders ... This is a concept based on the view that positional authority is not a necessity to become proactive in the realm of policy making.
The writer is a senior banker and a freelance columnist
