Sitting out on the bench or playing in the football field?

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “when the wind changes direction, there are those that build walls and there are those that build windmills.” It reminds me of a 2005 international bestselling book by Thomas L Friedman The World is Flat. Those who have read it know how the author describes the fall of Berlin Wall as the triggering event that resulted in flattening the world — a concept which views the world as a ‘level playing field’ wherein all competitors have equal access to available opportunities. The ten flattening forces described by the author in the book were actually the ‘windmills’ that accelerated the creation of a very interacting and interdependent world.

The flat world became a world similar to a football field wherein those that were good enough played in the middle whereas those that were not so good sat out on the bench. The likes of Deng Xiaoping from China, Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore, Dr Mahathir Mohamad from Malaysia, Margret Thatcher from Britain and Manmohan Singh from India and many other such leaders exploited the great opportunities on offer and ushered their countries towards an era of economic growth and public well- being. Their countries played as great players in a world turned into football field. I will also give the example of Augusto Pinochet from Chile accused of stashing $30 million in 125 secret US bank accounts or President Suharto from Indonesia whose wife was given the nickname Ibu Tien meaning Madam 10% because she was said to extract 10% value of every government contract, and our former rulers President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif — both accused of corruption. These countries and many others with such leadership struggled and sat out on the bench before the change in leadership brought in windmills that started blowing the winds of hope.

We were also outsiders. Clearly marked as left-outs. The why of which is not what I want to debate. But our leadership was making mistakes and my immediate concern is with the current statement from a senior PPP member who lamented the government spokespersons for calling their chairperson a kid. He cited his grownup and mature age of 32 years to build a case of his political relevance and ability. Is he right?

The problem with Pakistan is about the next crop of the political leadership. As we all understand that most that failed this country are on the verge of their political retirement. All the examples of successful leaders quoted above demonstrate that none belonged to a political system that privileged men and women from birth and entrusted power in them because of their sense of entitlement. Their political capabilities were not tied to family lineage and family fortunes. Why our country sat out and is still sitting out on the bench is because of our political leadership’s fault lines of nepotism, favouritism, incompetence and mediocrity.

There is no doubt that Pakistan today is undergoing a change and transition and there is a three-way power struggle that is contesting for political repute and gaining political relevance — an opposition with a ‘post-everything’ pessimism and explanations, a government with ‘pre-anything’ optimism and hope and a judiciary that continues to act as a referee and a watchdog. Government’s commitment and actions are being challenged and taken by the loads to the courts. May that be the increase in the oil prices, government’s commitment to act against the sugar barons, the case of pilots’ fake licences or bails before arrest — all government actions are being subjected to judicial scrutiny. The resultant delays fall like a waterfall on government’s burning fire of quick change and hope.

Opposition without a clear and coherent political strategy stands divided. The best political narrative that they can come up with is that the public is frustrated with the current economic doom and when they will encourage it street protests will follow and that would lead to the fall of the government. But without alignment with the military — the strongest force in Pakistan — will opposition’s efforts to seek political redemption bear fruit?

It is clear that military has great interest in the process of modernising the state and the society and wishes to play a clearly defined role in this process. Military’s involvement in what is being termed ‘guided democracy’ and which I think is a ‘collaborated democracy’ is an antidote to the trust deficit that delayed and denied any foreign investment in this country in the past. Military will have to assist the government in stripping of all the frictions and inefficiencies that delay the implementation of projects and also help it do away with all the bad changes, both constitutional and unconstitutional, for which this country has no use. It will have to play its role in the ‘consolidation of this new order’ because without military’s support our social, political and economic health will not improve. Why is the US economy so powerful? One simple answer is the military power — it makes it secure and invulnerable to invasion from abroad. Their economic power and reality is based on their military power and military reality.

Imran Khan’s current political dilemma is that he has to govern remaining within the realities and constraints that defined the previous governments. Breaking away from those realities and constraints requires time. His ability to redefine and change them would require a huge political commitment and effort. Donald’s Rumsfeld was US Secretary of Defense. He writes in his book The Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War and Life that, “you go to war with the army you have, not with the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.” Nobody understands it better than our current Prime Minister himself. As an athlete and a leader of the team he has proved innumerable times how good intentions, capability and commitment can help you achieve your goal regardless of the resources available. The best example of that is his leadership qualities demonstrated in winning the 1992 cricket world cup with a team that lost most of its initial matches and was on the verge of being knocked out of the tournament.

Today the politically discredited opposition has only one agenda — how to fracture the focus of the public. In the developed world many countries are producing 80% of their energy from nuclear power plants or even reprocessing their waste to convert it into energy. There is a long way that we have to travel from being capable of lifting our waste (Karachi remains a waste dump) to producing our energy through hydropower projects or nuclear power plants.

The changing winds are just not opportunities but a test — a test of how able and willing we are to support this government, demonstrate willingness to stage protests and waste opportunity or show patience to bear the pain and rebuild the country. The choice will determine whether in coming future we will continue to sit out on the bench or play as responsible player in the playing field.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2020.

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