Political Impact on Economy

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overnment to the People, by the People and for the People. I am not sure whether I had put this proverb right, but to be very honest, this is how I would want to interpret this. Pakistan is a country of Power politics and not Welfare Politics. As a nation, we were earned back in 1947 as not an Islamic State but as a Islamic “Welfare” State. Welfare means Wellbeing, Happiness, Benefit, Good and Safety. As you will go on reading my article, you can expect the usage of the above five synonyms in one context or the other but would find it a herculean task to figure the last time you, if reading my article within Pakistani borders, experienced such things.

Pakistan’s foundation is currently stumbling on these four pillars; Executive, Judiciary, Legislature and the new one, Media. The Executive, commonly referred to as the Political Leadership, of the country is the sole responsible to ensure the smooth running of the economy. The legislature formulates the law and agenda of how to go about it; the judiciary “should” hold you responsible while the media bring your faults to public.

Political moves decides how well the law and order situation would be in the country which is what decides how well the industries would fare in the economy. Just a few years ago, Pakistan’s law and order situation started to get further worsen, and was being taken as a Sole reason for the economic demise of the country, but now the energy crisis seems to have taken its toll as well. Would you imagine if your government tells you that the Vehicles would not be provided with the fuel they run on 3 days a week, how you would feel if your national government tells you that your textile industry would be deprived of gas and electricity for 3 days a week. For answers, you may refer this to an ordinary citizen from Karachi and an ambitious person from Faisalabad. To add insult to the injury, the government seems to have no plan in order to mitigate this energy crisis. In my sense of mind, it should not take ages for you to answer this question. Explore and seek fuel and energy from other natural sources.

Thar Coal project, owing to a nature coal treasure embedded in the national soil, can provide us with a continuous supply of Energy and Electricity of 50,000 Mega Watts for the next 500 years. But the current national government would want to rely on an alleged corrupt model of “Rental Power Plants”. Dams have become a major political manifesto points for the last one decade. It was the Musharraf regime that started the work on the Diamer / Bhasha and the Kalabagh Dams but eventually succumb of to the opposition of the minor interest groups. Imagine how these water reservoirs could have acted as a source to build in energy and would have prevented the interior villages from the gruesome floods that took their lives and livelihood both. But eventually, the result is the same, no progress and small hope.

Foreign Direct Investments have decreased by 86% in the last 10 years. There’s no electricity for the machines to run, why would someone want to risk their stake in a hell hole. At the same time, the government keeps on making tall claims of increasingly better relations with the other countries. What better relations would earn for us if these alliances don’t end up in a trade for Pakistan. It does not take you to be a rocket scientist to answer my questions.

A deteriorating economy brings in longitude and latitude of social problems for the country as well. Recession, a dive in the economic activity, decreases the average purchasing power of a lay man, causes a fall in the output and eventually lay-offs from their work. In a populated country like ours, one man on an average earns the bread for the next 6 or 8 people. So the loss of income of one man forces the others to suffer as well. Now this is what forces people to take extreme measures. By extreme measures I mean, suicidal successful or partially successful attempts or taking the law and order in to their hands to earn their living. So in effect, an economy whether successful or otherwise, would decide how the wheel of life would eventually run and who would eventually control the smooth running of the economy, no prizes for guessing, the ruling government of the country.

The value of money has deteriorated fast in Pakistan. Rising imports and surplus printing of money has not helped Pakistani Rupee much, giving further strength to Foreign Currency and the value of Pakistani Rupee has further gone down the drains. So much so that we had to print a 5,000 Rupees note. This new development says a lot on our economic platter.

The deficit now stands at whopping PKR 3,000 Billion Rupees which is ever increasing because of rising imports and falling exports. Tax revenue is being used for other non-development expenditures and so to call “private benefits”. I would leave this judgment on your good self of what the new government should and should not be doing to help this make look a bit better

Written By

Fizza Kamal BSS-7