Daily Times

A few days ago, Chief of the Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed his views on security and economy at a seminar held in Karachi.

The situation of governance in Karachi is deplorable and pathetic. The provincial government of Pakistan Peoples Party seems to be least concerned about that the province, even in areas like Larkana or Khairpur where it maintains a sizeable vote bank.

Although the Muhajir Qaumi Movement delivered considerably in Karachi when Mustafa Kamal was elected as the city’s mayor, but at present even the MQM is split into several factions.

As the elections of 2018 come near, the possibility of an alliance between the Pak Sar Zameen Party (PSP) and MQM-Pakistan led by Farooq Sattar cannot be ruled out.

Neither the PML-N nor the PTI have heeded much attention to Sindh and, therefore, an alliance between the two parties has become indispensable to keep the mohajir vote bank intact against the ruling PPP. It is important to bear in mind that the situation in Karachi would have deteriorated further had an operation not been carried out by security forces to eliminate militant elements. Arguably, the roots of terrorism have been cut through the operation. Though human rights organisations have expressed concerns about extra judicial killings in the city, the fact of the matter is that desperate times call for desperate measures. Because of the improvement in the law and order situation, the business community of the city has heaved a sigh of relief.

In Punjab, the aggressive stance taken by the ruling party against institutions has increased tension in the entire political scenario of the country to exponential heights. No doubt democracy is the best form of government and it is the civilian leadership that has the prerogative to govern the country, but the entire structure risks collapse if political and economic institutions become tainted with corrupt practices.

No doubt democracy is the best form of government and it is the civilian leadership that has the prerogative to govern the country, but the entire structure risks collapse if political and economic institutions become tainted with corrupt practices

In a book Why Nations Fail, James A Robinson argues that the basic difference between a developed and developing country is that the former has inclusive economic and political institutions whereas the latter features extractive institutions that cater to the interests of elite only. Pakistan faces the problem of extractive institutions since most of our efforts at institution-building have failed miserably. This has given rise to instability, both politically and economically.

Countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq also face internal strife. These war-ravaged countries teach us a valuable lesson that if Pakistan does not strengthen its institutions and make them inclusive in character, its risks facing internal strife as well.

At present, the ruling party and the people at the helm of the affairs are not concerned about the country’s economy, which is in doldrums. Instead of fixing the economy, the ruling party is busy challenging the superior courts and the military.

It was the duty of the government to devolve power onto the elected local government but it failed to do so. Instead, it seems that a totalitarian system of government remains in place in the country.

Keeping in consideration the external environment — Donald Trump’s diatribe against Pakistan and Indian government’s threats of surgical strikes — it cannot be ruled out that the enemy has set its sights on jeopardising the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Therefore Pakistan cannot afford to face instability within its borders. Hence the Parliament, army and judiciary should work together and within their constitutional domains. Politicians should understand this rather than remaining obsessed with personality cults.

The current wave of political uncertainty traces back to the disqualification of former Prime Minister through a verdict of the honourable Supreme Court. Alongside this uncertainty, there is the bleak situation of the economy — the rising debt and the increasing import bill — making experts maintain that economic emergency cannot be overruled.

At present the army is the strongest institution in the country and its importance increases manifold due to the geo-graphical factors and threats faced by the country either on both borders. So the army is the only institution in the country which brings coherence and unity amongst all stakeholders. If the ruling party leadership thinks that it can get away with cases pending in national accountability court by inciting the public against the judiciary and the army, then it is mistaken. The friction between the army and the political leadership existed even during the period of Raheel Sharif. It certainly aggravated after the Joint Investigation Team submitted its report before the honourable Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.

It is a shameful that the Sharif family is criticising the army, all for the sake of protecting their vested interests, and without realising the fact that our soldiers are sacrificing their lives fighting terrorists on the border.

Times have changed but the Sharif family seems to be living in illusions of grandeur. Perhaps, this time they will learn some lesson. In his Nobel prize winning novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquiz wrote that ‘races condemned to one hundred years of solitude never get second opportunity on earth’. The political scenario has manifested that Pakistanis really need to make a mature decision when choosing their elected representatives in 2018. Otherwise, the day is not far away when we, the people of Pakistan, may also get condemned to one hundred years of solitude.

The writer is a human rights and constitutional lawyer

Published in Daily Times, October 22^nd 2017.