Daily Times

For the elections due in July 2018, the political parties have yet not made their manifestos public. None of the parties has any concrete and pragmatic programme to make Pakistan a true egalitarian state. For true democratic dispensation that ensures mass participation, it is imperative to debate fundamental reforms in all areas with the aim to move towards the cherished goal of self-reliance and welfare state. Making Pakistan a welfare state is not possible unless structural reforms are made in the prevailing economic system that promotes rent-seeking and enriches the elites at the expense of the less-privileged.

The World Bank and Lahore University of Management Sciences held two-day (March 26-27, 2018) Pakistan@100 Thematic Area Conference to present prescriptions for various challenges faced by the country and how to shape the future for 2045. The papers presented, written by World Bank consultants, lack in-depth knowledge of our mundane realities. None of the papers contained any reference to work done by Pakistani scholars, more prominently that of Hafiz A Pasha’s Growth & Inequality in Pakistan, Nadeem Ul Haque’s Looking Back: How Pakistan Became an Asian Tiger by 2050, Ishrat Husain’s Governing the Ungovernable, Vaqar Ahmad’s Pakistan Agenda for Economic Reforms—just to mention the most recent ones. Our own academia, politicians and policymakers hardly debate the good work of local scholars so why to blame the foreign donors? Even in most of the studies and discourse, no references or acknowledgment of the available literature is made—we suffer from the malaise of intellectual barrenness/dishonesty.

A fair and just tax system is at the core of social democracy. Funds contributed by taxpayers should be expended for meeting state expenses and providing social justice to all citizens. Through open debate and discourse, all segments of society must strive for a roadmap for a Pakistan that can help in achieving the much-desired goal of autarky leading to a welfare state. All political parties should lead this initiative and after public consensus adopt a common agenda for a prosperous and just Pakistan by 2045.

Pakistan is one of those very fortunate countries of the world that has an abundance of resources and a climate that is fit for simply any activity throughout the year. But thanks to donors’ agenda of overemphasis on retrogressive taxation and incompetence of our economic wizards (sic), Pakistan’s dependence on imported products has increased manifold, whereas value-added exports have not been given any attention, let alone promoting high-tech industries capable of technological innovations—modern economies are knowledge-based and future is for those who can develop them as quickly as possible.

Economic challenges faced by Pakistan are multiple and grim—we are ensnared in a deadly debt trap, but there is no will on the part of the rulers to come out of it by tapping the real tax potential and stopping wasteful and unproductive expenditure. Pakistan also faces the herculean task of providing jobs to millions—on an average we need to create 1.2 million jobs annually for young people alone. For achieving this task we will have to ensure that economy grows at the rate of 8% to 10% per annum over a long period of time—for this, we need an investment of 20% of GDP.  This challenge is also our great opportunity for economic progress. Majority of job seekers are young people, who are our greatest asset—imparting education and skills to them and creating matching jobs is the real challenge. This can be met successfully by assignment of taxes for productive investment and employment generation—our real engine of growth.

Taxation should be linked with a social policy based on the principle of universal entitlements for all residents in terms of access to social benefits and social services. Taxation without representation also means denial of spending for the essential entitlements guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan. This should be the core idea of Peoples’ Manifesto.

The following points need to be considered by all political parties to evolve Peoples’ Manifesto with the commitment to voters that no matter which party wins, these would be implemented:

1. The first and foremost priority should be reforms in the justice system along with changes in administrative/governance apparatuses to eliminate the causes of litigation. No society can achieve progress unless it ensures dispensation of justice to all, irrespective of their position in society.
2. Second most important area of attention should be revamping of the education system with the aim to end ignorance. Our problem is not only illiteracy but also ignorance. Even the so-called literates demonstrate lack of civic sense. The focal point of education should be creating a society that is tolerant, disciplined, courteous and knowledgeable—capable of making innovations and technological advances.
3. Ensuring efficacy and accountability of all institutions.
4. Direct elections of Senate and giving it powers to vote on Money Bill.
5. Live telecast of the national and provincial assemblies and Senate proceedings.
6. Decentralisation of political, administrative and financial responsibility to local governments.
7. Education, health, housing, local policing, and all civil amenities should be provided through elected representatives of the local governments that should have powers to raise taxes for these purposes.
8. Digitization, transparency and accountability in the governments at all levels to enable citizens to understand and participate fully in the process of national integration.
9. Reforms in civil services, a fair deal for employees with effective accountability.
10. Elimination of terrorism, sectarianism, bigotry, intolerance and violence through enforcement of law and by taking concrete measures to ensure the social development of society based on higher values of life and humanity.
11. Strict laws and their effective implementation to curb terrorist financing, money laundering, plundering of national wealth, political write-off of loans and leakages in revenue collections.
12. Devising long-term and short-term strategies to break the shackles of debt-trap, making Pakistan a self-reliant economy and ensuring social security and economic justice for all citizens.

1. Reform and strengthening of management of public finances. Transparent public sector spending coupled with efficient performance.
2. Determination and political will to control wasteful, non-developmental and defence expenditure.
3. Reform of technical, institutional and organizational dimensions of public finance.
4. Good governance and corruption-free government structures.

17. The federal government should only collect income tax and customs duty. Harmonised sales tax on goods and services should be in the provincial domain. All federal, provincial and local taxes should be collected through one agency (National Tax Authority) which should also disburse pensions to all citizens in addition to other social security payments.

1. Reduction in excessive marginal tax rates making them compatible with other tax jurisdictions of the world, especially in Asia.
2. Substantial reduction in the corporate rate of tax.
3. Elimination of onerous tax and other regulations for corporate sector that are the main stumbling blocks for domestic and foreign investments. Simplification of tax laws and procedures.

The writer, Advocate Supreme Court, is Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Email: ikram@huzaimaikram.com; Twitter: @drikramulhaq

Published in Daily Times, April 1^st 2018.