Five years

Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan lamented that change of government in Pakistan every five years was tragic for setting long-term goals. According to his assessment, almost every incumbent government, eyeing a win in the next elections, prefers to finance projects that have high visibility and give quick political dividends. This short-termism, in essence, is the real enemy of high-impact mega projects.

What the PM perhaps does not want to talk about, after coming to power, is the complex nature of economic development and how it can be achieved via different models. During election campaigns, he was a staunch advocate of democracy and attributed economic and social development in the West to good governance (democracy). He vehemently criticised monarchy and dictatorship as the root cause of all ills in the Muslim world.

Now he seems to have changed his mind partly because of his obsession with the Chinese model of economic growth, nostalgia for Pakistan’s DoD (Decade of Development) of the 60s, and his inability to deliver on the promises he had packaged in his cherished slogan, ‘Naya Pakistan’. After over two years in office, the PM is looking for new excuses (in case the previous governments escape the bullet) rather than carrying out structural reforms in collaboration with opposition parties.

To be sure, neither the Chinese model can be replicated in Pakistan nor can the DoD be relived. China has made tremendous economic progress thanks to its unique model that combines features of capitalism and socialism with a focus on modernisation of its bureaucracy. More importantly, China has always tried to avoid unnecessary brinkmanship with adversaries. Despite political and strategic problems with India, USA, Japan, and others, it actively developed economic relations to the extent that none can afford to ignore China.

IK’s frequent allusion to a Chinese proverb that “the fish rots from the head” has proved wrong in Pakistan. Transparency International’s recent report reveals corruption has gone up in some government departments under a leader whose financial integrity is acclaimed to be unquestionable. This reinforces one’s belief in institution building rather than banking on individuals no matter how powerful or honest they may be. Systemic problems cannot be solved through slogans.

For most poor and oppressed people, systematic injustice is a foregone conclusion. In most cases of murder, rape, and robbery, FIR is registered against ‘unknown knowns’ when the victim fails to grease the palms of SHO sahib. After the bloodsucking investigation, it is the court where one can find everything but justice. The lawyer and his munshi (scribe) keep the case alive until they are sure the client has sold everything in his possession. This costly legal system denies people their basic rights who then have no option but to take law in their hands in utter desperation — and as such crime breeds crime.

And healthcare? Public hospitals are overcrowded in cities and deficient in villages. Private hospitals are unaffordable. Faced with poor quality and poverty, an individual with a chronic disease, ends up with quacks and fake pirs. These clever imposters assure the ‘hopeless and helpless’ patient about efficacy of their treatment. Some blame this on a superstitious culture but it is the outcome of an expensive healthcare system.

We surely do not know much of IK’s compulsions but what he says and does is not what was expected from him given his long-drawn political struggle for change. Perhaps we deluded ourselves by expecting him to do the impossible or he portrayed himself larger than life. In either case, the outcome has largely been depressing. Instead of wasting his energy on fighting the opposition and wanting more time beyond five years, he should leave behind a robust, efficient, and credible system of governance.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2021.

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