Exciting times ahead

The biggest question that awaits us in 2017 is whether we will move ahead as a country or go two steps back. In the past, we have moved backwards owing to short-sighted policies of our leaders. We hope the coming year will be different.

2016 was a mixed bag with progress shown on the law and order front and claims are being made that we have won the war on terror. This is a tall claim. At the same time little has been done to fight our war within — the fight against extremism and intolerance. We are painfully reminded of that every day.

In many ways, 2016 was a good year. Business sentiment remained positive and the whole talk about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has helped investor sentiments. The economy has done well on the back of low international fuel prices but this is a honeymoon that the government needs to know will end at some point.

The real estate sector seems to have received a boost in the past year as investment spiralled and correspondingly prices also soared. Big developments like the Bahria Town and the DHA schemes have once again made it an exciting investment opportunity.

Another area for growth was the stock market which performed well. The Rupee-Dollar parity also remained stable which helped keep prices in check. All this helped with inward remittances as well.

While the economy has done well, the same cannot be said about the country’s political fortunes. Once again, Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri created a storm in a teacup.

The MQM also fell apart while the show of the new PSP did not go as expected. By the end of 2016, what we saw was the parting of ways of the two giants — the PPP and the PML-N, who had earlier stood by each other in the spirit of the charter of democracy.

Of course the big story was the Panama Papers but in this the government has managed to ride out the crisis. The prime minister went to London for more than a month and the country was run through Skype for this period when the heat from the Panama Papers initially started.

Now it has cooled down but some fire is expected in 2017. In fact, 2017 will be the year of political developments as the main parties jockey against each other ahead of the general elections.

So far, the Sharifs have rested on their laurels. They have done much more in terms of infrastructure and business development than the Peoples Party government. There is a sense of optimism that was missing when Asif Zardari was president. But the big issue is corruption which is ironic given that the PML-N had the public perception of being the cleaner of the two parties.

Apart from politics, despite claims to the contrary, Pakistan’s challenge will also be law and order as well as regional peace. In some ways, these two are now connected.

Our army may have won the battle in the tribal areas, but the administration is struggling against militant groups in our cities. The attacks have not ceased, only lessened in number. 2016 was no exception.  Given the work done by the army, it is now important for our civilian administration to follow through as well.

What is worrisome is that militant organisations internally continue to be patronised one against the other and with this comes the spillover of cross-border terrorism. We are accused of abetting such groups and the country has to pay the price for this.

Despite claims of renewed friendships with China and new ties with Russia, our country has been isolated regionally. Our foreign policy is in tatters at a time when a very different government takes over in the US. It is an uncertain time and we are not prepared for it.

The biggest challenge for the prime minister in 2017 would be to stay in control of things. Present indicators suggest, as in the case with the country’s foreign policy and internal security situation, that the plot has been lost along the way.

It is time for the PM and his team to address serious inconsistencies in the way they function. More attention has to be paid to the other provinces.  More responsibility needs to be taken.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd, 2017.

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