A Good Article on  Pakistan's current  situation

Optimism -

Pakistan is a two-wheeler. Pakistan, a vehicle carrying 180 million, has two square wheels, namely a political dogma and an economic credenda. As always, there’s good news and there’s bad news. First, the bad news. Our political dogma rests on two pillars – dynastic politics and politics of patronage. The PPP and PML-N, the two major political entities, refuse to transform from family fiefdoms to genuine political institutions. To be certain, dynastic politics has resulted in political exclusion and political exclusion translates into economic exclusion – and widespread poverty. Whether in Pakistan or elsewhere, illiteracy, poverty and dynastic politics all tend to coexist.

Amazingly, in Pakistan’s electoral politics, a complete governance failure and pervasive corruption have almost no electoral consequences. For the record, politics of patronage has nothing to do with education, health or infrastructure. Politics of patronage is all about getting elected, capturing state resources and then the re-distribution of captured resources to complete the patron-client relationship between the voter and the elected.

As a matter of fact, the single-largest expenditure item in the annual budget, after debt servicing, is the Rs873 billion Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Under the current political dogma, the PM can divert a wholesome Rs50 billion out of PSDP towards his ‘discretionary fund’. Under the current political dogma, ex-CM Raisani could dole out a hefty Rs300 million to each and every one of the 61 MPAs (that’s a total of Rs18 billion). Under the current political dogma, a hundred thousand lady health workers can be regularised just before elections.

Our economic credenda also rest on two pillars – extractionary institutions and cartelisation. Look at PIA, National Insurance Corporation, Pakistan Steel, PSO, Ghee Corporation, PNSC, State Cement, TCP, Cotton Export Corporation, Rice Export Corporation, Tomato Paste Plant, Roti Corporation, Pakistan Stone Development Company, Pakistan Hunting and Sporting Arms Development Company, National Institute of Oceanography, Pakistan Gems & Jewellery Development Company, Centre for Applied & Molecular Biology, Council for Work and Housing Research, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Technology, and Central Inspectorate of Mines.

These are just some examples of extractionary institutions deliberately created – and sustained – in order to suck resources to enrich private pockets at the cost of the public. Under the current economic credenda, PIA can loose Rs70 million a day every day of the year and make irregular disbursements in the amount of Rs2.7 billion.

Then we have industry – wide cartelisation; a cement cartel, a sugar cartel, a steel cartel, a rental power cartel, an LPG cartel and a banking cartel. Cartels extract ‘rents’ or ‘unearned profits’ without adding much value, “or contributing to the society.....this is done by manipulating the political environment in which economic activities occur”.

Now, the good news. Three ‘incidents’ over the past 15 months – October 30 (2011), December 23 (2012) and January 14 (2013). All these ‘incidents’ have been truly unique in at least two respects: they all had the same slogan, ‘change’; they all attracted Pakistanis in numbers seldom seen before.

Every Pakistani, between Khyber and Karachi, is convinced that Pakistan is heading in the wrong direction. Forces of status quo, however, continue to resist change. Our political dogma will change and our economic credenda will change because “if we don’t change direction soon, we’ll end up where we’re going.

Dr Farrukh Saleem
The News, Sunday, January 27, 2013