Daily Times

The pre-planned, fully orchestrated assault on the accountability court by PMLN goons is an apt reminder that nothing substantive has changed since the days back in the nineties. It was then that the court of Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was stormed when he was hearing a contempt case against the then incumbent Prime Minister — Nawaz Sharif.

In a repeat performance, a court of the accountability judge has been attacked now to abort the indictment proceedings against Nawaz Sharif and his family members.

In the former instance, bags-full of money were airlifted to Quetta to virtually ‘buy’ some senior members of the judiciary to move against the then sitting Chief Justice. What follows the recent dastardly assault on the accountability court is yet to unfurl. In the interim, the goons-in-black have secured a six-day reprieve for the alleged criminals.

This was quickly replicated by assault of another kind. This time around, the military was told to shut up as they did not have the right to comment on the dismal state of national economy.

This is an economy which, according to my friend Farrukh Saleem, is tottering with an all-time high trade deficit of $32 billion, budgetary deficit of Rs. 2 trillion, circular debt approaching the Rs. 600 billion mark and the combined external and internal debt standing at Rs. 25 trillion plus.

Add to that the gloomy state of our reserves which stand at $13 billion, down by $2.5 billion in the quarter July-September alone.

And, don’t overlook the issuance of innumerable sovereign guarantees by the government in lieu of securing loans and other financial and business bail-outs.

In their four years in power, the government has indulged voraciously in two pastimes: doing nothing about the falling exports and borrowing like there were no tomorrow.

The army is genuinely worried about the inherent implications for national security emanating from the deteriorating state of the economy. Thus, like other institutions of the state, they have a right to make their case. The gravity of the situation forestalls a petulant debate on the choice of forum or such other trivialities.

Further indulgences by the actor-minister are not going to show us the way out of the dungeon that we are stuck in. It is through formulation and pursuit of pragmatic policies that we may be able to chisel a crevice to crawl out. It is not a task fitting the court jesters. You can’t attack and then sing the blues. Choose your weapon and turf and get on with using them wisely. It is a damned hard charge that lies ahead

While addressing a conference organised in Karachi jointly by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Chief of the Army Staff talked about the rising debt and the unfavourable balance of payment situation. “We have done our part on the security front. Now, its up to you to take the initiative and turn the economy around”, he said.

This was further elaborated by the ISPR which elicited a negative response from one court jester — Ahsan Iqbal — who advised the Army spokesperson to refrain from making comments on Pakistan’s economy. “Such irresponsible statements can dent Pakistan’s global image”, he said.

In the first instance, is the world oblivious to the horrible state of national economy? Is it angels that Pakistan has borrowed almost $85 billion from?

In the second instance, what has the actor-minister got to do with the portfolio of economy? Where is that indicted, self-confessed money-launderer hiding who still sits lording over the national exchequer and policies? And why does it hurt so much when the military points out ostensible weaknesses of the government policies and how it can imperil the challenges of national security?

To aggravate the situation further, the government operates as an immoral and dysfunctional entity. Understandably, there is a prime minister in Islamabad, but he is patently powerless and cannot move a limb without a nod from the disqualified former prime minister who sits out of the country, guarding his illicitly accumulated billions. An unmanageable coterie of court jesters is also answerable to the same de facto power.

Simultaneously, the institutions are under assault by the bootleggers of the former prime minister who, not too long ago, were the sworn bootleggers of a former dictator also. Such is the lowly stock available in abundance in the political wonderland.

What is important is not whether it is the military or some other institution making a statement about the abysmal state of national economy. What is important is what measures are being taken by the government to correct it.

The existent state of the economy is the cumulative result of years of flawed and short-sighted economic policies pursued by succeeding governments, but more so by the incumbents who have added a walloping $35 billion to the foreign debt in barely four years. And most of the borrowed monies have been invested in unsustainable projects to win petty political points including the metro and the orange line train.

A recent study has revealed that while the Punjab government is planning to charge Rs. 20 per person per trip on the projected orange line train, the actual proportionate cost is in excess of Rs. 200. Same has been the case with all metro projects which are running at substantial daily loss to the national exchequer.

The country is fast heading towards an economic meltdown, orchestrated or otherwise. This is the one reality that is staring everyone in the face with no easy solutions on the anvil.

Simultaneously, Pakistan’s options for further borrowings have also receded. In lieu of the current state of US-Pakistan relations, international institutions are not going to be generous like they have been in the past. There may be tough conditions with every such agreement, with potential to impinge on national sovereignty and security. This should be a serious cause of concern not only for the government, but every state institution.

So, further indulgences by the actor-minister are not going to show us the way out of the dungeon that we are stuck in. It is through formulation and pursuit of pragmatic and sustainable policies that we may be able to chisel a crevice to crawl out.

It is not a task fitting the court jesters. You can’t attack and then sing the blues. Choose your weapon and turf and get on with using them wisely. It is a damned hard charge that lies ahead.

The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute — an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan

Published in Daily Times, October 17^th 2017.