Perils of leadership vacuum

No country can progress and develop without a leadership that is hardworking, intelligent, clear-sighted, dedicated and honest, and that can demonstrate statesmanship. One can expect miracles if a country is blessed with leadership that provides a sense of direction for its people and focuses on human and social development. When there is a leadership vacuum, the country descends into chaos, disorder and anarchy.

Pakistan’s major predicament in the prevailing circumstances is the leadership vacuum which aggravates the economic and political crisis. National security issues ranging from Kashmir to Afghanistan as well as extremism, radicalisation of youth, violence, terrorism, economic meltdown and political polarisation tend to augment the perils of leadership vacuum because there is a dearth of individuals that can play a role in resolving these issues.

Recent popular protest in Gwadar against civic and social injustices is an evidence of a leadership that is kind of missing somewhere. Moreover, reaching a secret agreement with TLP despite its violent acts exposes a lack of direction on the part of the government and the failure of the leadership to establish the writ of the state. Also pointing towards a failed leadership is an uncontrollable economic crisis evident from the rising trade deficit, huge depreciation of the rupee and a high rate of inflation that have brought miseries to the masses in the shape of rising prices of essential commodities and medicines as well as costlier electricity, gas and petrol.

One exception to the leadership crisis in the country is Maulana Hidayatullah Rehman, the General Secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan who led a popular movement in Gwadar. A fisherman himself and a victim of exploitation of resources and unjust policies, the Maulana is representing the aspirations of the local people in the required manner. He did not compromise on principles or come under pressure in his pursuit of alleviating the plight of the people of Gwadar, proving himself to be a genuine leader. On 16^th December, he reached an agreement with the provincial government in which some demands of the protesters were accepted. In a tweet, the Prime Minister directed all concerned authorities including the provincial government of Balochistan to resolve issues in Gwadar. The apathy of the political class, both in the government and the opposition, as well as of security agencies towards a month-long sit-in in Gwadar reflects a leadership failure.

Likewise, in the foreign policy arena, the failure of leadership to effectively deal with the Indian absorption of Jammu and Kashmir by revoking Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution has sent a wrong message to the world. Islamabad is now more interested in Afghanistan and is hosting a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) starting 19^th December. Does this mean that Kashmir is a forgotten case for our leaders? OIC’s special meeting should have been called to expose Indian brutalities and human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Unfortunately, that is not the case. Our leadership has failed to mobilise the international public opinion against the Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.

The growing leadership vacuum in Pakistan is dangerous because a country of 220 million people cannot be left in the hands of those who are least interested in effectively dealing with the prevailing crises. Economic woes, political chaos, extremism, violence, erosion of rule of law, a slack justice system, poor governance, and the absorption of IIOJK by the Indian state under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act — are all serious issues that need to be tackled by the leadership. Even the opposition parties have shown disinterest. Instead of focusing on the ordeals of the people, they are more interested in extravagant wedding functions.

In this scenario, the leadership vacuum in Pakistan needs to be analysed from three angles.

First of all, the lack of an enlightened, democratic and tolerant political culture encourages the creation of ‘mafias’ and all such elements that foster corruption, nepotism, extremism, misuse of religion and ethnic violence. This sidelines other important issues. When the state pursues a policy of appeasement vis-à-vis terrorists and extremists and fails to play a leadership role to eradicate violence from society, it means that there is a great vacuum as far as plausible management of the crisis is concerned.

Second, an absence of towering personalities that can act as a bridge between the government and the opposition reflects the leadership vacuum in the country. Prevailing political polarisation gets an impetus when there are no respectable political or social figures who can mediate among different stakeholders for resolution of issues. During major national crises in our history, we have seriously felt the absence of a personality acceptable to all for mediation. For instance, in 2014, the PTI staged a sit-in in Islamabad. There was no personality of stature who could have acted as a buffer and helped initiate the process of dialogue. The result was that the sit-in continued for 126 days and only ended with the emergence of a new crisis in the form of the APS Peshawar terrorist attack. The trust deficit among different stakeholders is, therefore, growing — and with that the prevailing economic and political crisis too. Consequently, the country is speedily descending into chaos and disorder.

Finally, there is lack of unanimity on the part of the leadership to deal with terrorism and extremism, in particular. A case in point is how we have dealt with extremist groups over the last couple of years. If the national leadership was united in the aftermath of the APS attack of 16^th December 2014 and implemented the National Action Plan in letter and spirit, the country could have defeated the menace of terrorism, or at least made a major progress.

To conclude, in order to fill the leadership vacuum, there is need to demonstrate ownership, integrity and professionalism in dealing with grave national crises. Lack of seriousness, tunnel vision, corruption, nepotism and absence of accountability only aggravate the prevailing leadership crisis. The leadership should prioritise governance, rule of law and justice system, and focus on economic and political management of issues. More importantly, if the leadership only shows its existence through tweets, it reflects non-seriousness and incompetence in handling critical issues. A country cannot be run on tweets.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2021.

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