Since the independence of Pakistan, not even a single Prime Minister has been able to complete his full tenure of 5 years– despite that Pakistan has spectacularly completed 70 years of independence. After the formation of Muslim League in 1906 in united India, it was envisaged that these people would preserve Muslims’ rights. However, despite an independent state, Muslim leaders have failed to serve the purpose of its formation, and Pakistan is gradually descending into commotion over non-management of scattered affairs since long.
Following are the hurdles in its progress:
Leaders who prioritize their vested interests over national interests have sadly never reined the country. Pakistanis truly deprived of a visionary leadership since the demise of its founder Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The military of the country has filled a vacuum by regulating foreign policy to beef up vulnerable national security weakened under civil jurisdiction. Since Pakistan is a country prone to immense external and internal challenges, military exerts its powerful role to keep the sovereignty of the state intact. After all, the watchful eyes of mighty states, to which the civilian regimes have failed to justify their possession of nuclear weapons under the prevailing Thucydides trap of the realist world
Political instability continues to be an accelerating challenge in Pakistan. Nearly every political party yearns to reach central or federal government. These political parties are indulged in conspiracies for ousting a sitting elected representative to justify their power and the detected cause of massive corruption. While on the other hand, all premiers evade devolution of central power to the level of municipal government in the spirit of wielding absolute power. As a result of this, political instability became inevitable, which eventually shook foreign and domestic policies of the country. Thus, the growth of Pakistan’s economy is impeded due to apprehensions on the part of foreign investors such as Pakistan’s immediate future, dearth of probity of financial transaction, unstable foreign reserves, declining exports, imbalanced balance of payment, soaring unemployment and poverty, and lack of infrastructure development owing to scarce availability of national reserves.
In the context of external threat, foreign intelligence agencies are embroiled in sponsoring, financing the disgruntled (disloyal) persons, who are usually ridden by abject poverty, injustices, and psychological pathologies of Pakistan to water the seeds of terrorism. In the aftermath, budgetary allocation is maximized for defenses that they can cope with the fragile national security rather than investing in education, the tottering health care sector, provision of basic amenities, ensuring fast justice to foster the educated class.
What is worth recalling, Pakistan has wrongly been used in history by the United States to combat the advancement of the Soviet Union in 1980s and militant outfits after 9/11. Let alone, Pakistan had been accorded a status of non-NATO ally, which is now being taken back, and writing off the whopping circular debt that has again soared to 64% of GDP presently.
US is blaming Pakistan for maintaining sanctuaries for militants in its soil in the same way as Afghanistan is maintaining sanctuaries to harbor militants as well as the NATO forces for its own motives. In spite of the fact that Pakistan succeeded in eradicating terrorism and militant sanctuaries partly developed after compelling Pakistan to undertake the outsourced foreign policy of US for twice times. On the other hand, the foreign policy of US has miserably failed to achieve desired objectives by ruling out Pakistan across South Asia.
Moreover, Pakistan’s foreign policy has also failed to reap benefits from the international political economic policies; mercantilism and neo-mercantilism. Despite prevalence of liberalism in economy, there remains lack of socio-economic improvement. Even though, Chinese are good at maximizing their benefits through inter-governmental organizations and globalization. One cannot ignore the fact the international political system is massively driven by exploiters. It was rightly declared by Karl Marx, “the gulf between the North and the South would persist following the liberal approach in trade policies worldwide”. It is an undeniable fact that the establishment of the international political and economic institution favored the developed countries with numerical strength overshadowed by the patterns of international economic relations based on the comity of nations and principles of sovereignty.
Perennial existence of civil-military rupture remains to be another challenge to Pakistan for being touchy or fussy about political leadership. Pakistan is one such country where political leaders intend to enjoy absolute democratic power to serve the masses through undemocratic means. In this way the military of the country is reckoned to be more loyal and fraternal in the eyes of masses than political leaders over the demagogue they use during the election campaign. It subsequently ends up in their disqualification over corrupt practices, therefore; the military gets the upper edge of fidelity over political leaders with sheer pride undoubtedly.
It has even been widely argued that civilian regimes were always stymied by the military’s intervention. However, after the successful transition of civilian regime since 2008, and frequent contamination processes against the democratic charter by the civil leadership, military has ensured the approach of professionalism. Although civilian leadership is now frequently being asked by the military to promote democratic means through the process of accountability and by upbringing needy forms to curb corrupt practices, but all to no avail.
Undoubtedly, the salvation of the country lies in thriving democracy. For this, mass illiteracy should be eliminated by making sure of the implementation of Article 25(A) of the Constitution. Further, colossal budgetary allocation to the defense could be turned towards socio-economic development. There is also a need for long term development programs for social, political and economic stability notably by taking the consensus or consent from all political parties to avoid its becoming of a sheer nightmare.
Pakistan may need political, economic and diplomatic confluence to reshape its foreign policy. New avenues must be sought by keeping the national interests at front. Chinese flooded goods into Pakistan could dampen the growth of domestic industries that are in a fledgling state. Necessary trade barriers must be adopted to safeguard the domestic production of goods for exports.
Finally, political maturity is of essential need in Pakistan. This would eventually also strengthen civil-military relationship. Usually, civil-military rift is drawn over non-conformism by the civil regime towards experienced military policies. The polity wants to have freedom for regulating foreign policies without taking into consideration the past mistakes.
It is high time to realize the significance of unflinching commitments of forward-looking policies; otherwise the captivity of old habits could endanger Pakistan with the threat ofmore trash years to come which the masses cannot certainly afford.