KARACHI:
Miftah Ismail, Pakistan’s former finance minister, has written essays that I have been reading with great interest. In my opinion, however, his diagnosis is woefully inadequate. While Pakistan may have problems with its administration and its current account deficit, these are merely signs of the disease and not the actual illness. He uses instances from the nations he wants Pakistan to emulate to organise our affairs. Except for China, all of the nations are democracies.
I assume that when he mentions ‘Korea’, he is referring to South Korea rather than North Korea, which is often characterised as the proletarian promised land. Due to this distinction, using these examples and applying them to Pakistan is like comparing apples to oranges. In democracies, politicians are allowed unrestricted decision-making, uninfluenced by non-political players. I am interested in understanding how politicians face constraints in decision-making, particularly in allocating funding to various sectors. Insights from someone like the previous finance minister would be valuable in this regard.
Minahil Maqsood
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2023.
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