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By Kimihide Ando
It was October 1999 and I was waiting at Lahore airport to board my flight to Karachi when the news arrived. Pakistan’s elected government had just been overthrown in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. Fortunately it became clear very early that the coup had been bloodless. After three hours, our flight was cancelled and I shifted to a hotel for the night.
From my hotel room I drafted an email to my corporate headquarters in Tokyo. I had to explain to them what had just happened in Pakistan, and I had to soothe the anxieties that the news would naturally cause back in Tokyo.
My company, Mitsubishi Corp, along with Asahi Glass had just entered into a joint venture with Engro Chemicals to produce Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). The new company formed as a result of the JV was called Engro Asahi Polymer and Chemicals Ltd, and I had been seconded as Senior Marketing Advisor in May of 1998. Engro Asahi’s CEO at the time was Asad Umar, later to become CEO of Engro Corp now one of the leading figures of the PTI.
The project had been an uphill task all along. Only a week after my arrival, India and Pakistan carried out tests of nuclear weapons, and Pakistan had come under economic sanctions. For our project, the headwinds from the sanctions were strong, but we persevered in our efforts and overcame all obstacles.
The day of the coup in 1999 we had a big presentation in Lahore, inviting future customers prior to plant startup to come and see our capabilities, and the presentation had been a huge success. Coming at the end of a very challenging period that began under the shadow of the nuclear tests and the consequent sanctions, this success was a big moment for us and I was filled with the exhilaration that success in business brings.
Now on the way back, with the sense of exhilaration strong in me, there was this news of the coup and it was with a great deal of thought that I began drafting my message for headquarters.
“Yes, surely a coup d’etat has taken place” I told them. “But it has been bloodless, fortunately. Perhaps now things will settle down quickly, and maybe at this time, Pakistan requires discipline more than democracy.”
I must admit, in a way, I really meant it at the time. Of course since then we have all learned that democracy has no substitute, but those tumultuous days had many of us yearning hard for stability.
Those days are long gone now. Today I can say that one of the best things I have seen happen in Pakistan has been the election of 2013. As per rules laid out in the constitution, the previous elected government gracefully stepped down after completing its term and handed over power to a new government. Some of my Pakistani friends do not appreciate the enormity of this transition, and what it means, no matter if the elections had a certain measure of rigging and were not a perfect one.
After this election, my messages to my corporate headquarters, as well as to other Japanese companies interested in investing in Pakistan, were as follows. “A very good thing has happened over here in the last general election. Today Pakistan is one step above other countries like Egypt or Thailand. They respect their constitution and are mature enough to give their new government a chance to prove themselves. Rules of the game are being established, and that is a very good thing for Pakistan.”
For steady progress towards capturing the demographic dividend that comes with a growing population, we need stability in the system, people to follow the rules laid down to obtain their demands, not a revolution or any other yearning for ‘discipline’ that comes from outside the system created by the constitution. Otherwise the growing population will become a demographic tax and a burden.
What I see happening in Pakistan today worries me because if people on the streets can start calling the shots, then it would negate the positive story of Pakistan to possible investors in Japan, as well as other countries.
I am not in a position to say whether the elections were rigged or not. Let us assume, for the sake of debate, that they were partially rigged. Would that still justify bringing thousands of people into the streets to turn around a result representing the votes of millions?
Above all, democracy requires patience. I sincerely hope that all parties can constructively exchange views and opinions at a proper platform, such as the National Assembly, for the sake of the nation. Staying within the rules set down by the system is of paramount importance.
http://www.dawn.com/news/1127481/no-revolutions-please
