Daily Times

The discussion of a technocratic government has been making headlines lately in Pakistan’s political arena. Nothing gets me more excited than the idea of technocracy at least being part of the political circle and being introduced to the masses. Even though I am a huge supporter of a meritocratic setup and a believer in its success, I still think embedding this idea among the masses that political structures could be more diverse and stay effective is a healthy discussion to promote.

Pakistan’s political discourse is rife with debates over democratic structures and marital laws, where we can read and hear opposing viewpoints on both. It was not until Imran Khan’s political takeover that a populist approach was seen as winning in the political arena. The only true example of a technocratic setup was experienced during President General Pervaiz Musharraf’s time. While many democratic supporters rule his regime a failure, I think it is a huge win for the technocrats, especially considering the 8.5 percent GDP that the government was able to maintain for years.

Between 2000 and 2008, faster economic growth and more social prosperity were made possible by major improvements in economic governance and structural reforms. In his early years, he was able to boost the slow growth rates of the “lost decade” from 2.1% to 7%. Also, Pakistan’s GDP grew by 8.95% per year in 2005, which was a big deal in the country’s economic history. The amount of foreign exchange reserves was increased so that it could cover imports for six months. Previously, the amount of foreign exchange reserves could only cover three weeks of imports. When he got there, there were only $700 million in foreign reserves. There are now $17 billion. During his time in power, Pakistan was a good place for foreign investors to put their money. Investments grew at a rate of 23% of GDP, and the economy was financed with about $14 billion in private capital from other countries. At $481 million, FDI stayed very low in 2000-2001. But in the 8 years after that, the same head registered a huge amount of $5152.80 million. This proves that Musharraf’s government made it easy for foreign investors to do business.

The greatest strength of technocrats is their ability to shift focus from ideological strategies to practical, effective ways to deal with a variety of monetary, fiscal, economic, and infrastructure issues. Their second superpower is their approach to societal problems from the vantage point of appropriate knowledge and experience by seeking solutions to problems in science and technology broadly conceived.

However, this article is about making a strong economic case for a technocratic setup, especially when it faces stiff criticism from political pundits and senior politicians. A seasoned politician and the Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, recently commented that technocrats should only be government advisors. I have a lot of respect for his political intellect and wisdom. But respectfully, I reject this notion and think that Pakistan’s current economic turmoil makes an incredibly strong case for a technocratic and even better meritocratic setup.

Driven by their cognitive-practical minds, technocrats are experts in bringing about structural changes and implementing reforms that politicians can’t or perhaps won’t implement. Typically, when called in at times of immense crisis, technocrats are looked at as the last hope by business, institutional, and even political leaders who believe that non-politicians are needed to bring immediately needed changes to governance and resolve issues that threaten the integrity and sustainability of the nation.

The greatest strength of technocrats is their ability to shift focus from ideological strategies to practical, effective ways to deal with a variety of monetary, fiscal, economic, and infrastructure issues. Their second superpower is their approach to societal problems from the vantage point of appropriate knowledge and experience by seeking solutions to problems in science and technology broadly conceived. Therefore, if technocrats are capable of devising strategies and restructuring for the benefit of a nation, simply labelling them as “advisors” is a slap in the face of many technocrats, who are true assets in my opinion. The government’s recent decision to sell two of its LNG plants to Qatar just shows the economic desperation that the politicians might be going through. Now I want the readers to pause here, think, and decide if our politicians had decided to bring in technocrats to evaluate national assets, and devise a strategy for privatization and performance improvement-would that have been more advantageous? Or is getting rid of our national assets wiser? Also, the “white elephants” who continue to be a source of financial leakages in the name of “public institutions” could have been made part of this effort in hopes of reviving the economy.

Our undocumented economy has continued to strain the finances for decades, and it is something that the politicians seem to have turned a blind eye to. However, if boosting tax collection necessitates pursuing traders and the undocumented, do so in a methodical manner with reasonable taxation. If our agriculture sector needs the latest technology, GMOs, and modern irrigation techniques, then the politicians must take a backseat and let the experts drive agricultural growth in the country to fight food inflation and insecurity.

The biggest hurdle in the way of a technocratic setup is the disapproval of politicians at large, who may not let the technocrats work for fear of losing their influence over the masses. This is where the judiciary must act as a “technocratic” supreme and interfere to launch a stronger, reformed technocratic setup to strengthen Pakistan’s near-default economy. However, it would be extremely unfortunate if technocracy is seen as a short-term solution to delay the rising election demand in the country, especially when there are far more sectors than I mentioned above where technocrats can lead the economy in the right direction.

The writer is the Foreign Secretary-General for BRI College, China. He tweets @DrHasnain_javed