Daily Times

Pakistan is passing through a difficult time. It can also not be denied that Pakistan has already seen a plethora of unpredictable and unprecedented rows of events in the past.

Even now, it is still stuck in the whirlpool of the logjam, which has the potential to extend irreparable instability to this already fragile and frail state.

All saint and sinners today are highlighting different perspectives for Pakistan’s sorry state of affairs. But, the moot point is that there are numerous principle bottlenecks, which are impeding Pakistan in its way to fuse progress, peace and development to its dilapidated social structure.

Pakistan is bristling with issues of political unrest; weak party system; economic dislocation; institutional flaws; rise in inflation and international alienation. Thus, these areas need prompt action to propel Pakistan on the path to become a prosperous nation.

In the current state of affairs, extreme political unrest is being witnessed in all political corridors of Pakistan. The incumbent leadership spearheaded by Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf’s (PTI) Imran Khan seems under pressure from all corners of Pakistan’s polity. The PM is entirely confused over the worsening political crises in Pakistan.

Unfortunately, when prudence, intelligence and firm line needed to be drawn, he is moving forward with denial and irregularities.

The frequent changes of cabinet ministries and portfolios along with visionless policies and strategies have eroded public trust from the famous notion of “Naya Pakistan.”

All successful and people-oriented nations have one thing in common: strong party system

The opposition, religious political parties and few unelected institutions have paralysed the PTI government.

The unavailability of a simple majority in the parliament is yet another reason for its sluggish political growth and current instability among its top brass. Not only this, but the incumbent government has also failed to chalk out any short term or long term strategies and policies to put Pakistan on the path of a forward-looking and peaceful state, as prior promised by the PTI government.

Furthermore, it is a well-documented fact that all successful, progressive and people-oriented nations and democracies have one thing in common: a strong and competitive party system.

Unfortunately, Pakistan has inherited an incompetent and weak party structure. Political parties in Pakistan are feathering their own nest at the expense of societal development and progression. The multiple-party system has failed to deliver in Pakistan. It is due to the fact that these parties have become regional in nature; projecting the interests of certain groups while failing to adopt the national character.

Not only this, they live with the only purpose to impede the progress of country underway by unfairly criticising the present government of any time. No party thinks of national progress or development but their own interest and benefits. In the current scenario, things are not different.

Almost all parties under the umbrella of the so-called ‘democratic alliance’ are planning to destabilise the PTI government just because it is trying working for the national uplift and long-term sustainability of peace and progress.

Pursuing this further, since its independence, Pakistan’s economy had never propelled at a smooth pace and remained prone to boom and bust episodes. The successive government remained visionless to put the country on a path of economic stability along with the promised growth rate. Therefore, a lack of tax culture, excessive corruption and money laundering, overdependence on foreign donor agencies and inept financial managers have all extended irreparable harm to the country’s economic structure. Thus, the PTI government today is failing in all its attempts to bring back our dwindling economy from its flashpoint. The current government has accepted all the fair and unfair points presented by the IMF, who has promised to give a six-billion-dollars loan to Pakistan. This deal would bring an avalanche of problems for Pakistan including yet another hike in petroleum prices; boost in daily commodities prices; increase in GPS taxes; inflation and high rates of electricity and gas. These dilapidated conditions of the current governance system have yielded an extreme hue and cry among the poor and middle class of Pakistani society.

Moreover, institutions of any state specify and delimitate its sustainability, progressive nature and strong internal structure. To put it more bluntly, the stronger the institutions, the greater would be the progress. However, it is really unfortunate that building strong, empowered and transparent institutions remains a far cry in Pakistan.

The negligence of successive governments regarding institutional retooling has rent the very fabric of our already volatile society. On the current note, under the PTI government, the institutions have either stopped working or become overpowered with impunity. Elements like corruption; rubber stamps and jobbery are leading our society towards a dangerous hotspot. The principle bottlenecks are coming from the doors of bureaucracy, judiciary and legislature. Among these institutions, deep-rooted mistrust and severe rift are also found, which have hampered the progress graph of Pakistan. All these institutions are at cross purposes and loggerheads with each other in various issues, ranging from governance system, power-sharing and their vested interest, which is to put stumbling stones in the way of the present government to keep the spirits of progression alive.

Lastly, Pakistan has been facing international alienation and an attitude of global degradation. The factors responsible for such sorry state of affairs are collapsed economic system of Pakistan; frequent incidents of terrorism; money laundering; failed diplomatic institution and the constant lobbying by our staunch opponent – India. It has been reaching out to corridors of different world powers to declare Pakistan as a failed and terrorist state. The mounting pressure on Pakistan, from Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the US, has further degraded its international reputation and structure. Our foreign policy has also failed to win the hearts of its neighbouring countries to bring a sigh of relief from our borders.

The writer is a historian