Daily Times

There was an interesting news report recently on how our Prime Minister (PM) has so far spent 200 days out of his two-and-a-half-year tenure in countries other than Pakistan. And that excludes private visits. It would seem that the PM does not believe his presence in Pakistan is too important as far as running this country is concerned. Considering modern technology, it is quite possible to run things from afar. Obviously, running a country as big as Pakistan from Islamabad or running a country as big as India from New Delhi is almost like running the country from abroad. So I am really all for the PM staying abroad for even more time with one caveat that he should limit his entourage and stay in his own home when in London. A few months ago we were privileged to see the Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab conducting the affairs of the province through video conferencing from London. All this makes eminent sense.

As far as our former president and co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the chairman of the PPP Parliamentarians is concerned, he has been running the affairs of these parties as well as those of the province of Sindh from abroad for the last many months and is likely to do that for many more months in the future. So, running things in Pakistan while living abroad is quite acceptable, especially with ever-improving communication technology and transportation. As a matter of fact, VVIPs can get to Pakistan from Dubai almost as quickly as they can get to Islamabad from Karachi. It would seem to me that having our major politicians live abroad for most of the time while they run Pakistan is not a bad thing. First, even though the PM has spent 200 plus days of his term abroad, things have been sort of alright in Pakistan even during his absence. This, of course, means one of two things. First that we in Pakistan do not really need a PM or that the PM can do as good a job from abroad as he can when he is in Pakistan.

The abroad thing makes sense for many reasons. Of course, the PM will have to make a trip once in a while to Pakistan to sign documents and have important meetings with the people who really run most things in Pakistan. The latter is more important than signing documents since documents can be signed anywhere anyway. So, let me enumerate some advantages of the PM living in a place like London for most of the time. First and most importantly, if the PM lives in his own home and pays for his own utilities and help, that will cut down tremendously on expenses to the national kitty. The second major advantage is in terms of security. The major security details that are responsible for the PM’s security in Pakistan can then be used to provide security in probably all the schools in Islamabad and even some in Lahore. The same is true if the CMs of all the provinces and their extended families also live abroad so that all their security guards can instead be used to provide security for local schools and colleges. The same could be applicable to many ministers of peculiar departments and some exalted ‘personages’.

The second major advantages of living abroad for the CMs as well as the PM is that they will not be subjected daily to a barrage of sycophantic suggestions about new mega projects. This will cut down wasteful expenses on building unnecessary roads and transportation. Also, all sycophants that need to see the PM or the CMs will have to travel to see the PM or CMs on their own expense. Of course, important matters can always wait for the visits by the boss to Pakistan. What about politics? Well, as far as the PM and at least the Punjab CM are concerned, they never visit the Assemblies or meet up frequently or even infrequently with elected members of their political party. So, this enforced distance will make members of parliament even less enamoured of their own jobs and possibly make them less likely to contest elections again. That will allow better people to run for elections in the future.

The PM and the CM of Punjab should best live in London. This will also facilitate the frequent routine medical checkups they require from physicians in London. Though I am sure that either of them, including their families, could live quite comfortably in almost any place in the world, Saudi Arabia though might bring back unpleasant memories. The PPP heads prefer Dubai for permanent stay. This preference might be a function of past investment of time and money. Also, it is close to Karachi making frequent summons sent out to PPP functionaries from Sindh a lot easier to follow. As far as the two other major parties are concerned, the lord and master of one of them lives in London for good and the Great Khan already has his family and most probably his heart permanently ensconced in London also. As far as the CM of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is concerned, I do not think he has ever travelled too far from Peshawar. About Balochistan, I have no idea what goes on there so I am unwilling to make any comment.

In summary, I suggest that most of our political leaders and officials should be encouraged to live abroad or at least should not be discouraged from doing that. Not having these people in Pakistan will, in my opinion, improve governance in Pakistan as well as free up a lot of our security personnel to protect people who really need protection. From my point of view, protecting our children as well as our young students is much more important than protecting any of the people who are supposedly running this country.

The author is a former editor of the Journal of Association of Pakistani descent Physicians of North America (APPNA)