How would you deal with this situation if you were the chief executive of Pakistan right now?

[VCheng]

I believe Imran will do just that.

k

No one can judge personal beliefs, but we can all wait and discuss what IK actually does, when he actually does anything substantive.

 

[Olympus81]

I agree SMEs are the backbone of the country’s economy. That’s how South East Asian countries have advanced in the past 2 decades.

Thailand, population of 60m is $270bn. Malaysia with 30m at $270bn. Here Pakistan is toiling at $25bn.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

For this discussion, let us first start with some prerequisites.

The present situation is not just weeks and months in the making, or even years. This has been decades in the making, and will likely take as long as that to resolve. However, there are a few steps that can be taken in the short term to reduce the likelihood of further deterioration. The next thing to consider is the actual authority of the PM of Pakistan as it exists in reality, and not as the portrayal. For anything to be effective as suggested below, there must be changes that allow the PM the full spectrum of authority to be available to deal with the responsibilities of the position. Whether this is possible or not is another discussion entirely.

There are four important aspects to the present crisis: financial, economic, social, and defense.

Dealing with the financial crisis is fairly straightforward: agree upon the appropriate IMF program, and then successfully complete it, a feat that has never been achieved before. Let there be the determination not to let the difficulty of the adjustments be used as an excuse to not meet the specified goals, specially on the political front. It would be important to have everyone realize that even if the adjustments are done stepwise and not all at once, the long delayed pain will be fairly acute and sharp, no matter what. There is no way around this for anyone.

The economic crisis is much deeper that just the current imbalance of the government's books. To put it bluntly, it is an absolute disgrace just how pathetically low the economic output of a nation of 230 million has become. To begin tackling this, get the energy sector in order by dealing with the circular debt and letting free market mechanisms take hold rather than bureaucratic mismanagement, and giving the few remaining sections of the economy that produce exportable tangibles a free reign for needed inputs on a war footing.

The longer terms fixes require huge social changes: provision of health, education and justice. Two basic requirements are needed across changes of government so that consistent progress can be achieved: goal-oriented management, and appropriate funding. Making consistent policies in both domains will need commitment from all parties not to reverse any agreed upon steps upon change of government for short term political gains.

The last item is perhaps the most difficult and relates to defense of the realm. Is Pakistan ready to grow from its present demented mindset of being nothing more than a security state to becoming a state that benefits its citizens? What is needed to begin this transition is perhaps beyond the scope of the present discussion, but is included here just to highlight the importance of such a transition to make all of the above possible in an enduring manner.

I think one very important aspect that needs to be added is the form of govt and political system. If we are to have democracy then let there be actual representation of people in parliament. And that can only be ensured if integrity of votes is ensured. Currently you have a facade of democracy where influential , bradries, tribes, gangs, families etc control the electoral process in conjunction with state apparatus (which includes Army as well). A politician needs to know what he says or does will be then held accountable by people through votes - currently as you can see mnas mpas selling loyalties knowing well thag their actions are unpopular in public, but due to assurances from powers to be are the ones who matter and not their public perception. In current Pakistani system the biggest scum comes up in power who has no fear of public backlash in elections, because apparently the votes of citizens is not the most important factor in the process.

 

[VCheng]

I think one very important aspect that needs to be added is the form of govt and political system.

I reiterate my closing paragraph and urge you to consider its ramifications:

The last item is perhaps the most difficult and relates to defense of the realm. Is Pakistan ready to grow from its present demented mindset of being nothing more than a security state to becoming a state that benefits its citizens?

 

[TheDarkKnight]

I reiterate my closing paragraph and urge you to consider its ramifications:

The last item is perhaps the most difficult and relates to defense of the realm. Is Pakistan ready to grow from its present demented mindset of being nothing more than a security state to becoming a state that benefits its citizens?

Being a security state is not analogous to non democratic state. There are many security states that are a better democracy than Pakistan, and their security paradigm is to protect citizens from threats larger than them. Consider Israel and even Ukraine these days.

 

[VCheng]

Being a security state is not analogous to non democratic state. There are many security states that are a better democracy than Pakistan, and their security paradigm is to protect citizens from threats larger than them. Consider Israel and even Ukraine these days.

A better example of a security state is North Korea, not Israel.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

A better example of a security state is North Korea, not Israel.

A better example of a security state is North Korea, not Israel.

Sorry but Pakistans comparison with NK is not fair and correct, and I am not trying to even compare.

 

[VCheng]

Sorry but Pakistans comparison with NK is not fair and correct, and I am not trying to even compare.

Give it a few more years and then we can take this up again.

 

[WotTen]

I reiterate my closing paragraph and urge you to consider its ramifications:

The last item is perhaps the most difficult and relates to defense of the realm. Is Pakistan ready to grow from its present demented mindset of being nothing more than a security state to becoming a state that benefits its citizens?

Far be it from me to defend the military leadership but are you not being too lenient on the civilian politicians?

One can debate whether the military budget is too big or not, but what stops civilian administrations from collecting proper income tax, reducing subsidies to their favorite sectors, and using the money to provide education and healthcare?

The military may demand its pound of flesh but it is not stopping the civilians from increasing government revenues and reducing corruption.

In Pakistan we seem to have this all-or-nothing mentality: we either put all the blame on one party or put all our hopes on one individual.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

Give it a few more years and then we can take this up again.

So NK where defense mimister is executed using AA guns, citizens are not allowed to even leave the country, let alone the despotic rule of a communist regime. Come on. You are either not familiar with NK and/or Pakistan. Despite me being disappointed with the current regime and politics, there still is a system which caters for citizens opinion in formation of govt. The worst times were in Zia and Musharraf and those are definitely behind us.

 

[ziaulislam]

I will go for forced sterilization as overpopulation has caused most of the issues.

Smartest people on earth are worried about low birth rates and you want to do the oppositw

You want to do what srilanka did.."get old before getting rich!"

 

[Sayfullah]

One word. Elections !

 

[One_Nation]

Smartest people on earth are worried about low birth rates and you want to do the oppositw

You want to do what srilanka did.."get old before getting rich!"

You clearly didn't get the 'smartest people'. They are worried about their and not your birth rates.

 

[VCheng]

Far be it from me to defend the military leadership but are you not being too lenient on the civilian politicians?

How hard can one be on mere puppets when their roles are created and run by the puppet masters?

So NK where defense mimister is executed using AA guns, citizens are not allowed to even leave the country, let alone the despotic rule of a communist regime. Come on. You are either not familiar with NK and/or Pakistan. Despite me being disappointed with the current regime and politics, there still is a system which caters for citizens opinion in formation of govt. The worst times were in Zia and Musharraf and those are definitely behind us.

Clearly, Pakistan is not there - yet. Security states run by lies and oppression. When the lies fail to work (as we can see to some extent already) then mere oppression remains. It will just take some more time when overpopulation and resource scarcities exert unbearable pressures, as they inevitably will, as we are beginning to see.

 

[ziaulislam]

You clearly didn't get the 'smartest people'. They are worried about their and not your birth rates.

They will be once it hits too level to be worried about