Save the economy, save Pakistan

After a number of incorrect guesses, the PPP still hasn't figured out our biggest issue. Guess what? It's the economy!

It's surprising that two years into governing, the PPP and its allies still haven’t figured out the fundamental issue that is plaguing Pakistan.

They have tried a number of wrong guesses, including judiciary, terrorism and even democracy as potential issues of paramount importance to Pakistan. But what these geniuses still haven’t figured out is:

It’s the economy, stupid!

Nearly every singly major issue that the people of Pakistan are currently facing can be traced back to the economy. In simple words, save the economy and you save the country. Terrorism, law and order, food and utility shortages, funding issues and even relief operations are all reliant on the economy. And if that is not working properly and is being mismanaged, how can they even think about improving the situation?


It has become so bad that when the government actually tries doing something positive, such as calling the leading businessmen of the country to seek their advice, none of the businessmen want to show up. Not because they don’t love Pakistan, it’s because they are actually scared of being screwed over by the geniuses running the show in Islamabad. Now how the hell does this government plan to improve anything in Pakistan, when the business community of this country doesn’t event trust them enough to turn up at their invitation?

Not only is the government completely wrong in its priorities for Pakistan, it is also wrong in the way that it is going about them. They say they wish to root out terrorism, while the unemployment rate in the country keeps going up along with inflation. Now it’s just stupid even thinking you can root out terrorism, while you’re creating the perfect conditions for terrorist recruitment.

Next, they say they are going to maintain the legitimacy of the parliament and fight for its sovereignty.  Now, wouldn’t this argument make more sense to the masses if they were educated and understood what democracy meant? That would only be possible if they had jobs to make enough money to send their kids to school for education, so that the next generation could be more conscious of our democratic tradition and stand by the rule of law.

All I am saying is, if the government focuses half the energy it spends on arguing with the courts on actually fixing the economy, we all would be in a much better position. Hence what I said earlier:

It’s the economy, you fools… focus on that and the whole country will be in a better position.
WRITTEN BY: Adnan rasool
Currently the Deputy Executive Director Center for Enterprise, Trade and Development, Adnan is also a political analyst working mainly on electoral politics and political campaign management. He tweets at @adnanrasool

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.