Daily Times

A doctor friend of mine made an interesting observation recently. According to him, the PPP wants to sell Pakistan while the PML-N wants to buy it. This begs the question of who will build it. The season of buying and selling has started again. Public sector enterprises (PSE) are back on the market for sale. Since they are mostly losing money, the sales are under duress. The nationalisation of the 1970s and the privatisation of the 1990s have both failed to deliver.

Nationalisation of private enterprises including schools and colleges in the 1970s did not work. With the first martial law in 1958, nation building came to a halt and empires came into existence. By the time Ayub Khan decided to celebrate his decade of progress, the country had been divided into the haves and have-nots. The wealth of the nation was concentrated in a few families and groups. Industrialisation was not based on national needs. PSEs were created by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s administration to cater to the basic building blocks of the nation like steel, fertiliser, defence armaments, nuclear power, etc. Most of these enterprises were profitable at that time and provided employment together with economic growth.

Privatisation of these public assets should not be confused with denationalisation of private enterprises like Ittefaq Foundries or BECO. Profitable PSEs have to be revived, not sold as scrap. Professional management and independent boards can turn them around. Corporatisation is needed, baboos cannot run them. National needs are being met by these institutions. Private sector monopolies or cartels are not in the public interest. For example, in the absence of regulatory frameworks, and with ineffective competitive controls, privatisation of cement and ghee corporations has been disastrous. Profit making units have been sold only to become part of anti-people cartels while loss making entities continue to drain the public exchequer. The prices of these two essential commodities have increased disproportionately with no improvement in quality.

At the time of partition, Lahore had a functional bus network called the Lahore Omnibus Service (LOS), designed on the pattern of the London Metropolitan Transport system. LOS covered the length and breadth of the city, was self-sustaining and cash rich. Then came the concept of consolidation and centralisation of authority — the Urban Transport Corporation was established and soon became unmanageable while running huge losses. Finally, it was shut down and its assets cannibalised, its properties taken over by vested groups. In Lahore, a fresh public transport initiative was launched in 2013 called ‘jangla bus’, which travels from Gajjumata to Shahdara with a highly subsidised fare. If subsidies were always going to be injected then there was no point in shutting down the LOS, which was effective and covered more city area. This charade continues while the public continues to suffer.

Shaukat Aziz, as prime minister, wanted to run the country as a corporate body called ‘Pakistan incorporated’. The planning commission, under a technocrat, was given clear instructions to move in the direction of corporatisation followed by privatisation. Public sector banks were the first target. The Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) was next, followed by Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). Finally, the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) intervened and the PSM deal was cancelled. It started an executive-judiciary clash, which eventually led to the dismissal of the chief justice by then President Musharraf because Chaudhry Iftikhar challenged the arbitrary dismissal and defied the order.

The defiance of Chief Justice Iftikhar sparked the lawyers’ movement, which eventually caused the fall of the dictator. The plastic prime minister, who was confident about coming back to power, left the country to serve in the corporate world of the west. He now resides in London and rubs shoulders with the elite. Pervez Musharraf got tired of his cushy life in London and was lured into coming back by party honchos despite warnings about the consequences of his return.

The Pakistan of 2013 is solidly moving in the direction of democracy and the rule of law. There have been five major transitions this year: the speaker of the National Assembly, prime minister, president, army chief and chief justice. Obstacles in the democratic path are slowly being removed. The establishment has lost control to the judiciary and media with a vibrant civil society in place. National assets and interests can no longer be violated by sellers and buyers as the owners are vigilant.

The PML-N, being a party of vested interests, is finding it very difficult to multiply personal wealth as it was able to do in its last two stints in power. Almost everyone who matters within this party has experienced a phenomenal growth in wealth after entering politics. Starting from the top and moving all the way down to the union council level, it has been a bonanza for party members. The movement of resources and building of empires has been unprecedented. Meanwhile, the PPP still uses the slogan of ‘roti, kapra, makaan’ (food, clothing, shelter) but has repeatedly failed to deliver. Pakistan needs real growth, not slogans.

Pakistan and its vital assets are not for sale. The entire process of privatisation has to be reviewed together with plans for globalisation, deregulation and a free market, which have failed to make a better world. The socio-democratic gains of the revolutions in the 20th century have been neutralised by the free market approach. The distribution of wealth has been skewed. The rich have become richer while more people have fallen below the poverty line. Pakistan incorporated has to be returned to its rightful owners — the suffering people of the republic.

The writer is the former chairman of the Pakistan Science Foundation and can be reached at fmaliks@hotmail.com