Humayun Gauhar
Have elections strengthened our centrifugal forces? “Pakistan Struggles For Survival – Religious Warfare and Economic Chaos Threaten the Survival of this Nation,” wrote LIFE magazine in January 1948, five months after the country’s creation. Sixty-five years on, all those problems persist with many new ones added. Pakistan is still struggling for survival. The list is long. Hope being unrequited because their leaders haven’t delivered, a sleeping giant is waking up. It is the people. All predictions about the May 11 elections came wrong. How did Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N win so big and Imran Khan’s PTI so little? The tsunami turned out to be a splash but not for the right reasons. The PML-N’s performance in Punjab, while wanting, stood out much better than the performance of the PPP-led Sindh government. People were wondering why the PPP was not campaigning in the Punjab and yet President Asif Zardari seemed so serene. Protection being Zardari’s prime concern, perhaps there was an understanding between him and Nawaz that the PPP won’t campaign in the Punjab and leave the field open for the PML-N provided that Zardari is either given another presidential term or a safe exit. Rich and poor, the incorrigibly optimistic people of Pakistan had so much hope in the May 11 elections that even the elite and their children came out to vote for once. But their hopes were dashed because of large-scale electoral fraud and rigging. Witness the beauty of democracy: 1. Elections Commission officials not turning up on time and delaying polling, often by 6-7 hours because they were threatened. 2. Voters of certain parties being deliberately stopped or delayed from voting while those of other parties were given precedence. 3. Ballot boxes arriving late. 4. Ballot papers arriving late. 5. The backs of ballot papers not stamped by the Election Commission. One wishes that our politicians were as good at governing as they are at rigging. 6. Ballot boxes being stuffed with bogus votes. Proof: in many constituencies more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters. Did the angels also vote? 7. Ballot boxes being hijacked by candidates. We have all seen the video of what happened in NA-125 where supporters of the PML-N candidate stuffed ballot boxes or stole some while helpless election officials remained inert. 8. Threats and bullying galore, with party workers entering polling stations brandishing guns, all caught on camera and threatening TV anchors and cameramen to desist filming and vamoose. 9. ‘Worser’ still, the voter turnout was 60 percent; double our traditional average. Those 30 percent new voters didn’t come out to vote for the traditional parties, else they would have also voted in earlier elections. They obviously came to vote for change. Where did those votes go? 10. Voters, old and young, men and women, stood for hours in the searing heat to exercise their right to vote but didn’t leave. They wanted change. Now some constituencies will suffer the indignity of a re-poll with some parties boycotting. Pity is, like in 1977 if Bhutto hadn’t rigged that election he would still have won. If this one hadn’t been rigged Nawaz Sharif would still have got the largest number of seats though less than he now has and there would have been a genuine coalition to give the federal government a national character and a stronger opposition. Today, re-polling is taking place in 143 stations of Karachi’s constituency NA-250. The PTI is likely to win so the MQM is boycotting. God forbid, if they start saying it with bullets and just one body falls, it would be enough to set the country on fire. Pakistan is a tinderbox of parched expectations waiting for a spark. Not even a real tsunami will douse that fire. I won’t even go into the pre-poll rigging, like many corrupt but high profile politicians made eligible to contest while honest ones were disqualified. This entire electoral process seems to have been a pantomime directed by invisible hands, and I am not talking about our army that is the perennial whipping boy. I am talking of our mindless politicians with their inordinate influence on petty officialdom, their illegal wealth and financing from overseas, their storm troopers and promises of patronage to those who would help them grab power. Did the people actually vote for change of another kind – separation – or did they vote for confederation? Neither, but that is how the script had it. It was made to seem like that because political Mafiosi masquerading as parties headed by dons who have been foisted on us again by others with their armed squads and hordes of illegal wealth hold every square inch of Pakistan hostage. If there had been no NRO, no Saudi deal and Articles 62 and 63 meticulously followed, this disaster wouldn’t have happened. But it was in the script. How can a stigmatized vote represent the will of the people? It represents the will of predators that have sliced up the country between them while the people are left to protest on the streets. I called my last article ‘Survival Moment’. If people keep waking up and remain awake, they will grasp their moment. These elections must be cleansed as soon as possible because the country cannot afford another. The economic and political tsunami that is lapping on our shores will swamp us. Governments must be formed post haste. That can only happen if suspicions of rigging are purged with alacrity else question marks will hang like swords over all five governments. Then they won’t last long and another election could be upon us before time. By then every party could be wiped out by bad performance, except for Imran Khan provided he remains in opposition and does not form a government in KP. Imran will be the last man standing. Will he listen? They never do. He is gung-ho about forming the KP coalition government to make it a ‘model province’. Chances are that despite the best will in the world its achievements will not match its rhetoric and could disappoint a lot of people. Then the political vacuum will be complete. Hello revolution. I said last week that the post-election challenge will be bigger than the pre-election, but I didn’t foresee rigging as a pre-election challenge that would trespass into the post-election period. But it has and our problems have multiplied. 1. There is no national party left. All parties have been elected on the basis of province, city, area, ethnicity and language. 2. The Nawaz League won a simple majority but only because of the tyranny of Punjab’s majority. Virtually all PML-N’s seats are from the Punjab; it has little following in the other provinces. 3. The PPP has become a rural Sindh party while the MQM represents urban Sindh. 4. The PTI has replaced the ANP as KP’s party – the only real change. 5. The Balochistan Pathans and ethnic Baloch have elected their parties. 6. Religious parties were routed, getting only 5 per cent of the vote. Shows that the people don’t consider the making of a theocratic state as the purpose of Pakistan but an Islamic welfare state as our founder spelled out on August 11, 1947. Is the Two-Nation Theory morphing into a ‘Multination Theory’ based on ethnicity and language, not religion – the Lahore Resolution of 1940 talked of Muslim majority states in the plural, implicitly recognizing ethnicity amongst Muslims. It is staring us in the face. We made it stare by our dishonesty and shenanigans, while a good performance could have buried ethnicity and multinational nationhood would have arisen. We really are our own worst enemies. An MQM-PPP coalition government in Sindh will perennially snipe at Nawaz Sharif’s heels if he doesn’t give protection to Altaf Hussain or Zardari. If Zardari doesn’t get another term he could sit in Sindh and no one dare touch him. If anyone tries to, or Altaf Hussain for that matter, what is to prevent them from unilaterally declaring independence? Though he tried to backtrack, Altaf Hussain has already threatened secession. All Zardari has to say is, “Pakistan na Kapay’ and that is it. If the people of Sindh celebrate and India recognizes them, what can army intervention do and for how long? Baloch leaders have openly being threatening secession for years. This does not bode well. Have elections strengthened our centrifugal forces? Are we headed for balkanization? Or are we moving towards confederation? Confederation is far better for if God forbid Pakistan falls apart northern India’s balkanization that started in August 1947 and continued in 1971 would gather pace – the subcontinent trifurcated in just 24 years. The chaos would beat the anarchy of 1947. But then it can be argued that the subcontinent is moving towards its natural pre-British equilibrium. Yet, I am sick at heart and full of foreboding. Hopefully I am wrong. A pretty lady messaged me from Karachi’s sit-in: “The energy here is of a full-blown confrontation. Confidence in the authorities, politicians, the army and the caretakers turned undertakers, is zero. The citizens are taking over. Finally Pakistan is waking up.” “Who will play Robespierre?” I messaged back. The writer is a political analyst. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Aima Khosa
Will he be able to stand up to the challenges? In the weeks leading up to Pakistan’s most anticipated election, the notoriously unreliable polls in the country had gone haywire in their forecasts. Almost all polls had suggested that Nawaz Sharif, the man who had served as prime minister twice, and Imran Khan, the new figure to Pakistan’s political front, were neck and neck in the race. Nawaz and Imran had one thing in common; both were contesting on the conservative platform. Perhaps this was the mistake the Pakistan Peoples Party and its coalition partners made; they relied on the hope that the right wing would fight it out amongst themselves, leaving the vote bank of the liberal parties untouched – at least in Sindh, PPP’s traditional stronghold. Serious security threats, high-profile targeting and absence of leadership added to PPP’s campaign failure, whose five-year tenure had left a bitter taste in the average Pakistani voter’s mouth. This election, however, was not a war of ideologies – the division of Pakistan along ideological lines since the 1970s has become seriously convoluted as neo-liberalism became the order of the day when Pakistan picked up the pieces from the post-Zia era. There has been so much suppression of the Left in the previous decades that it almost does not exist along traditional lines anymore. And PPP, the once the torch-bearer of Pakistan’s Left, has been an equal participant of its repression. Pakistan’s active student politics has been crushed, a right wing state rhetoric was strengthened over the last three decades and along the way, Pakistan’s politicians became comfortable with the idea that the public had no clear division between the Left and Right. It worked for the martial law administrators and it worked for the incumbent government. There were other issues on the table in this election, the most important one being the shattered economy as a result of the electricity crisis. A meeting of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) had deplored the electricity crisis earlier this year, saying that the biggest industry in Pakistan had failed to generate a single job over the last five years, even though it has the potential of creating at least five million jobs. It is no wonder, then, that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, headed by Nawaz Sharif, got a landslide victory in Faisalabad, the hub of Pakistan’s industrial zone where joblessness has been rampant because of the factories that had been forced to shut down in the wake of the worst load shedding in the country’s history. Nawaz is an industrialist and a flashy-project man. He had taken on huge projects in all of his previous tenures; a motorway from Islamabad to Lahore, a Metro Bus service in his hometown, subsidised education in Punjab, subsidised wheat scheme and not to mention Pakistan’s national pride, its first successful nuclear test. Whether or not these projects were a good idea remains debatable, but it impresses voters, especially those who do not understand or know about the failures of the market mechanism or the importance of nuclear arsenal along geostrategic lines. Nawaz’s urban vote is not nearly as impressive as his rural vote, especially the turnout for his party in southern Punjab, where PML-N swept most seats. While it is an astounding achievement for the PML-N, the elections results also point to several things about the psyche of the voters: Pakistanis, especially in rural areas, voted for familiar candidates and known faces. It is no wonder, then, that PTI has lost in Punjab, it had fielded new candidates without fully campaigning in the smaller areas. Furthermore, local issues took precedence over prevailing national crisis in this election. An example of this would be the Christian voters of Punjab. After the horrific tragedy of the Badami Bagh fire where nearly 200 houses and 80 shops were burned down by under a PML-N provincial government, Christian voters when asked who they would vote for, they replied with conviction: the tiger (PML-N). This was not out of some blind loyalty to Nawaz, especially because of his dubious dealings with the Lashkar-e-Jhanvi and his links to extremist groups, but because his party did something for their community: they built them new homes, distributed a lot of compensation money and overall satisfied the immediate needs of the community. This looks impressive during an election campaign and it was no wonder that PML-N swept the minority vote in Punjab. However, there was a clear division of votes along class lines. This is precisely why Imran Khan’s supporters are so disgruntled. A section of urban youth went and voted for the first time, and for them, casting that vote in itself was a revolution. Imagine their disappointment when their “revolution” backfired as PTI failed to secure majority votes in the province (as many polls and expert opinions had indicated). In the aftermath of May 11 election, angry PTI loyalists, which include the upper-middle class youth, came out to protest against what they felt was unfairness of the electoral process. Traditional authoritarianism during military rule in Pakistan had served to thoroughly depoliticise these youth. This of course did not mean that these voters had been oppressed in the way student wings had suffered in Zia’s era and hence lacked the sufficient “revolutionary” fervor, and overall anger, when they went and voted. These voters are new to freer media, have a basic understanding of national issues and an overall sense of injured Pakistani pride which they hoped to restore by making a “new” Pakistan. They did not understand, or even seek to understand, why PML-N got the majority that it did. An overwhelming majority of Pakistan is NOT upper-middle class and had voted for the party which they believed could best fulfill their needs. Clever fielding of candidates, familiarity with the faces and PML-N’s records of flashy projects all came together to tip the balance heavily in their favour. Simply put, the election of 2013 was the election of the rural voters. Now that he is back at the helm, Nawaz needs to address the immediate load shedding crisis. It is a known fact that anyone who solves that problem will secure the majority win in the next election. While Nawaz would want to secure the prime minister’s spot for himself this time around, he needs to secure his political legacy and is hence readying his progeny. Therefore, securing PML-N as a lasting dominant force via solving an electricity plague that has lasted over a decade will be a priority. But while Nawaz might devote all his force to eliminating load shedding from the country, there are shadowy links between the party’s ideological ties with banned outfits. In this election, Nawaz gave out party tickets to banned Lashar-e-Jhanvi-linked Chaudhry Abid Raza from NA-107 and Sardar Ebaad Dogar from NA-178 who is an ardent disciple of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and who had announced Rs 20 million-bounty to assassinate Salmaan Taseer for siding with Aasia Bibi, a woman on death row for blasphemy. Raza won, Dogar lost to an independent candidate. Nawaz has said that he would cooperate with the United States to end the War on Terror and extend support in the 2014 withdrawal. Nawaz will also have to figure out a way to work with Pakistan’s notorious establishment and its dubious dealings. As the United States is set to leave Afghanistan, Nawaz’s government will have to oversee the smooth passage of the trucks taking NATO equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan. These trucks will contain equipment and weapons and will remain exposed to the extremists which Pakistan’s murky establishment has been reluctant to get rid of. Nawaz, himself, has not displeased any extremist groups but has had a checkered past with the army. Figuring out balance is going to be a big challenge. At the same time, there is a big question about how Nawaz plans on satisfying his voters when he has campaigned on a pro-business platform. While Pakistan’s politicians were busy campaigning, the caretaker government has all but announced an IMF emergency, one that comes with conditions. Naturally, the caretaker government, as it has reiterated several times in the past, is not equipped to deal with an IMF loan crisis, which is why they would have preferred to defer to the upcoming government. Now, Nawaz takes on the prime minister’s chair with a bailout plan in his lap that has taxation as an important condition. To tax, or not to tax, that would be the question, then. The writer is web editor at Pakistan Today.

Saad Rasool
The political right has trumped political left, but will it deliver? The results from the 2013 general elections have surprised many candidates and political parties. Even the victors (notably one political party), who are dancing in streets in euphoria, have been surprised by the extent of their victory. The incumbent political government and its coalition partners have been all but wiped out of the electoral map. PML-Q, the most significant ally of the outing PPP government, has been reduced to a two-man party in the National Assembly. The ANP has not even been afforded this small dignity; their party, and perhaps political lineage, has almost disappeared. MQM, another ally of the former government, has retained its hold on Karachi, for the most part, but has not done much more than that. PML-N has secured 124 seats in the National Assembly, and an incredible 214 seats in the Punjab Provincial Assembly. But the really surprising part of the elections has been the fact that there is no particular opposition party. PPP, the second-largest party in the NA has less than one-third the number of seats that PML-N does, and PTI (the second-largest party in the Punjab Assembly) has one-fourth the number of seats that PML-N has. There has also been tremendous hue and cry – mostly from the urban centres, but also some rural areas – about massive accounts of rigging. Specifically, in Lahore and Karachi the privileged class, that came out and voted (perhaps for the first time), is displeased at seeing that the candidate of their choice was not declared winner. Some pundits have dispelled such protests as the crybaby noises of the elite, who are so used to always getting what they want in our country that they cannot fathom why their vote did not result in a victor. Regardless, while not all such complaints have met a sympathetic ear of the Election Commission, certain select polling stations and constituencies have been ordered to either recount the votes, or re-poll (in fresh elections). Fact of the matter, however, is this: even if the rigging charges are all true, and even if the recounting or re-polling (in the constituencies where such complaints have been lodged) is done, it will, at the very maximum, change the result for 5 to 10 seats. While the flipping of even one seat of the parliament is significant, and anyone who has rigged the polls should be brought to bear the fullest extent of the law, the truth is that it will not change PML-N’s victory, or its overwhelming nature. According to the ECP, almost 60 percent of the registered votes across Pakistan were cast in this election. What conclusions can thus be drawn from these elections? At the very primitive and emotive plane, the results can be justified and explained through the resonating rhetoric of ‘dekho dekho kaun aaya, sher aaya, sher aaya!’. The PML-N jiyalas mobilised better than the rest. Their reach was farther (at least in the rural areas of Punjab) than all other parties. And their leadership responded to the call of these jiyalas much better than all other political parties. But assessing the elections as being just this would be naïve and unworthy. Next, on a political plane, the results reveal two important conclusions. First, the message of change and revolution, by Imran Khan and his party, has not penetrated through the rural masses (who constitute the majority of Pakistan’s population). Or, even in case it has been broadcasted to such masses, it has not resonated with them. And the votes, across rural Pakistan were caste on beradari lines, and in favour of anyone who could get the thana kachehri work done for his or her constituents (in this case PML-N). Second, that the people of Pakistan, once all the rosy-rhetoric of revolution faded away, have decided to cast their vote in terms of experience rather than hope. In the shadow of PPP’s abysmal performance across the board, PML-N was the one party that (comparatively) showed signs of performance and forward momentum. And this – tangible performance, in the shape of the Metro Bus, or Danish Schools, or laptops – trumped the intangible message of hope. All this sounds like a rational choice. It can be justified, even explained. And it is reasonable. The worrying part, however, reveals itself when one tries to assess the results of these elections from an intellectual and ideological plane. On the intellectual plane, the mandate of PML-N (along with its right-wing supporting parties) is worrisome. In this regard, the election can be seen as a contest between the voices of moderation and liberalism (embodied in the support of PTI and even PPP) against the forces of conservatism (in PML-N and its allies). And in this battle, the forces of conservatism have comprehensively defeated the voices of moderation. Some degree of rigging on not, in an election with a very high turnout, the nexus of Punjabi-traders, rural farmers and a brand of conservative youth has swept away the push towards moderation. It would be reasonable to expect that during the next parliamentary term, blended with overhead bridges, underpasses and a bullet-train, will be a set of conservative laws and standards (e.g., Ehtraam-e-Ramzan Ordinance). There will be no real push or desire to revisit the evidence standards for Blasphemy laws, or the state’s interference into declaring certain sub-groups as non-Muslims. And this ideological divide, as worrisome as it is in terms of the ideological rift, has the mandate of the people. And this mandate has to be accepted and respected, even if so done grudgingly. This is the design of democracy. This is the command of our constitution. Ideological differences aside, the election results may prove to be a much-needed medicine for our ailing nation. The PML-N leadership has a reputation of getting the work done. And they have the clear and unchallenged mandate of the people. There is no hung parliament. And therefore, no real hindrances in the ability of the PML-N leadership to deliver. And most importantly, in an election in which almost 60 percent of the votes were cast, there is little room for anyone to complain that the ‘silent-majority’ is not supportive of the government. For now, whether one voted for PML-N or not, it is time for all of us to lend them our support in fixing the problems of Pakistan. The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: [email protected]

anjum

This week, Microsoft rubber-stamped Windows 8 as good to go for manufacturers. This means PC makers and other partners can grab the operating system code and test it out with their products, which should start arriving Oct. 26. The struggle for the future of computing as we know it has essentially commenced.

Microsoft has essentially opened a window in having media and technology start anew with their new operating system. As they have minted a lot of money through Windows Vista, and through Windows 7, who says that they won't do the same now?

Howevever, what one really needs to see is a resurgence of the Personal Computer industry, to battle smartphones and tablets in the ever-growing information technology market. Windows unsuccesful bid to bring forth a popular Tablet PC for their customers brought an opportunity for Apple to establish its brand through the iPad. Early smartphones in the form of handheld palmtops such as the HP Jornada have given Google an edge in bringing forth Android phones with more advanced operating systems.

So it essentially comes down to this: with Windows 8, we get to find out what the non-Apple computing industry really has left.

Windows needs some resurgence to its already established brand, as the bringer of Personal Computers during in an information technology hike in the 80's, 90's, and 00's. It really needs to get the ball rolling and not leave companies like Dell, Hewlett-Packard, or Acer sitting idly by while others get ahead in the game.

Just about everyone—even Apple fans—should hope that some company gets its act together, takes some risks, and wows the public on the back of Windows 8. It’s the sort of competition the industry needs to be healthy and for innovation to continue at a furious clip.

Sakina Husain
It has been about a month since the IMF report on Pakistan ‘ingeniously’ highlighted the economy’s fragility. A sense of urgency was incumbent; the PM quickly and quite conveniently replaced the secretaries of finance and FBR. Very few questions were asked; the damage was covered. How and why would the public demand accountability and transparency, or an extenuating correction of seemingly portrayed fudged figures when it has been residing in blissful ignorance with regard to the economy? Or maybe the silence was another extension of the disillusionment with the system. For the purpose of reminiscing, the IMF report in Feb-12 revealed that the (please note: expected) budget deficit communicated by the government for FY12 has been understated by Rs532 billion where in the revenue was overstated by Rs215 billion and expenditures were understated by Rs317 billion. This would imply that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year would arrive at about 6.6 per cent of GDP, instead of the government’s repeated assurances about realising the promised five per cent contingent on promised external inflows which even the sovereign would vouch by…but nevertheless. Given this back drop, the very act of changing secretaries signals that the government is capable of making only cosmetic changes in an effort to please the almighty IMF. The first contention questions why the IMF is so important that the government needs to replace qualified personnel who have served its cause throughout the regime so far. Moreover, current deliberations by the ex-finance minister reveal that domestic debt has exceeded foreign debt, indicative of greater reliance on the domestic financial system instead of lenders abroad. So why is there a need to prove credibility in front of this iffy source of funds? The second contention challenges the autonomy of the ministry of finance as the government’s window into its accounts. If expenditures, especially the larger recurrent ones are being exceeded than the target, is the finance ministry really supposed to suffer blame? There are severe structural deficiencies in the collection and distribution of revenues between the federal and the provincial governments. For instance, the provincial government or the chief minister has the power to undertake expenditures without taking prior approval from the national assembly. This automatically results in a greater than expected deficit in provincial budgets as the latter have limited space to raise revenues, especially, post the 18th amendment which led to the devolution of many subjects that were earlier apart of the federal list. Third, the PM’s alacrity in reading international evaluations of the economy is commendable and therefore must be lauded. Why should he pay heed to weekly caveats published by domestic analysts who have repeatedly tried to inform, challenge or at least warn the government regarding the same macro variables delineated by the IMF? The government is ready to cheer the FBR chairman when he reports higher than target revenue collection, but ever ready to replace the same person when the numbers are challenged by an international body! Why are there no internal checks and balances? And moreover, is the 2-3membered IMF office in Pakistan better equipped to report federal collection of taxes and expenditures? Regardless of whether the answer is in the affirmative, there is only a sense of embarrassment and shame that holds its ground. If the government is ever so concerned about accurate reporting of its accounts and more importantly meeting its target spending, ‘may be’ it needs to address the inefficiencies that exist in its very own government offices. Supposedly, for the provision of government services annually, the government spends about Rs13,000 per capita, leaving out the amount that is assigned for expanding the scope of these services ie the PSDP. And to put an end note: there is little education, very little health and almost no security in the country. The writer is an economic analyst and freelance financial journalist. She can be reached at [email protected]

Javed Gilani
an economy unable to reach its production possibility frontier will always remain vulnerable to exogenous shocks, as in the case of Pakistan. It would have been a different story if the last two-to-three years had seen some sort of visible improvement in handling deficits and improving growth. If we had produced, exported and grown more, we would have had a more stable support base, restricting damage from external shocks our economic and political managers have no control over. In the present circumstances, among Pakistan’s chief worries is rising energy and input cost, the demand-supply dynamics of which play out on a stage and involve actors far removed from Islamabad’s sphere of influence. With our deficits in uncomfortable zones, additional price pressure due to increasing inflation, predominantly higher energy and input costs, is putting unsustainable pressure on the country’s reserve situation. Therefore, even as relevant quarters and analysts calculate a few month elbow room for reserves, their value diminishes every time international pressures bid up oil. Things looked up in the immediate aftermath of the 18th amendment, which transferred increased power and responsibility to provincial governments. Yet with no proper revenue generation framework, and unable to get help from a largely defunct FBR, they have been unable to make any meaningful contribution so far. On the other hand, the federal machinery has not been able to introduce any form of value addition in the present export basket. This means that almost all traditional means of generating national revenue are compromised. That is why we rely on international trends to facilitate our economic engine. We are always in need of improved remittances to defend deficits. We are always praying for international events that push down the price of oil so our own economic managers can breathe easy. And of course, we are always on the lookout of bailout and donor assistance. Sadly, despite the obvious persistence of such trends, we have not moved in manner that the situation merits. It bears noting that persistent growth problems require solvency in credit markets to stimulate the only indigenous option to revive GDP. When the external situation exerts unbearable pressure, economies look inward, prompting private sector expansion which in turn attracts offshore investment. In this case, banks facilitate private sector investment, in some cases ably guided by the official machinery, in a way that the centre does not interfere in market mechanism, only facilitates it. This is where the Pakistani banking sector needs to step up to the plate. For some years now, a proactive lending regime, one that incorporates targeted needs of the time, has been conspicuous by its absence. Whatever little scope the private sector has had has been compromised by heavy government borrowing. This equation requires urgent balancing. The last couple of years of private sector crowding out have left a vast investment field yet to be exploited. Ironically, the laxity of the past might even turn into an attractive opportunity for the present. If properly handled, private sector investment can create jobs, improve infrastructure, create employment and, most importantly, engineer second round market multiplier, with gains for all. We have now come to the point of no return. Both government and autonomous organs must finalise an action plan that will stimulate employment and growth. That means fine tuning both fiscal and monetary policies. Once the finance ministry initiates immaculately targeted fiscal expansion, and the central bank makes credit available to private investors, we may even see a domino effect strong enough to lure bulky foreign investors. Our problems are not existential, but their handling has made them acute. We have the necessary inputs, its just a little toggling of official policy that is required. The recent stock market optimism is an adequate indicator of productive potential across the economy. All that is needed is effective program management. The writer is Chief Manager SME bank and has been a leading banker in the industry for more than 30 years

Pakistan Today
Since the creation of Pakistan, it has faced a number of problems. All of these issues are major and badly affect our society. It is undoubtedly connected with so many resources directed towards the educational improvement, which is given at low priority. This is evident upon examination of Pakistan’s overall literacy rate of 37.8% (50% for men and 24.4% for women). A poorly educated population is unlikely to participate in family planning or any other form of population control. Poor educated population makes Pakistan a poor choice for the foreign investors. Furthermore, the extremely low literacy rate among Pakistani women (24.4%) tends itself to a society where most women never enter the labour force, creating less incentive for them to limit the size of their families. Government should take a keen interest on this major issue because without education our country will not survive in this modern world. MUHAMMAD SALIK Karachi

Pakistan Today
The Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday, April 30, 2013, maintained that general elections would be held in the country on May 11, 2013, and that nobody should harbor any suspicions and misgivings on this count. He termed the general elections as a golden opportunity which could usher in an era of true democratic values in the country. The Army Chief’s assured that Pakistan Army stands committed to wholeheartedly assist and support the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections. It would play a pivotal role in rebuilding the confidence of political parties. Now with the assurance for conduct of fair, free and timely elections from Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), all political parties contesting the elections must participate in it wholeheartedly and focus on steering the country out of its current multidimensional predicaments. M FAZAL ELAHI Islamabad

Pakistan Today
Undoubtedly, youth are the backbone of a nation. So in order for a nation to progress, it is imperative that a proper system of education be implemented. There are many problems that this country is facing such as corruption, inflation, constant power outages and unemployment. It is extremely disheartening to see how the situation is unfolding. The good thing is that youth of today is aware of its rights and responsibilities. Pakistani youth has a major role to play in the upcoming elections 2013. Young voters are likely to play a deciding role in the upcoming general elections with over 34 percent of voters aged less than 31 years, according to statistics obtained from the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Pakistan Today
But on what terms? The TTP had declared the previous government non-serious about peace talks. During the elections, it had launched deadly attacks on the candidates and the meetings and rallies of the PPP, the ANP and the MQM – targeting the trio for being secular. This reign of selective, targeted terror didn’t allow the three to campaign freely and hold public meetings and rallies. Prior to this the PML-N, the JI and the JUI-F were nominated by the TTP as guarantors of a negotiated peace with the government. Subsequently, their candidates were allowed to conduct their polling campaigns undisturbed. A similar treatment was reserved for the PTI as well. It was not unnatural to expect that if the three ‘guarantors’ and the PTI, which opposes the use of force against the militants, came to power there would be a lull in the terrorist activities. What one sees happening only days before the takeover by the new administration however belies the expectations. On Friday when the PTI, the JI and the QWP agreed to jointly rule KP, there were two deadly terrorist attacks in the province killing seventeen civilians and two soldiers. Those nominated guarantors are presumably being warned that unless they yield to the unacceptable demands of the terrorists prior to the talks, attacks are likely to continue. This should make the PML-N, the JI, the JUI-F and the PTI to have a rethink over their stand. The TTP makes no secret of its demands. As late as last month, the TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud rejected in unequivocal terms the democratic system as an ideology of the ‘infidels’. He maintained that his outfit would accept nothing less than an implementation of the Shariah “which can only be enforced through waging Jihad”. And, that the TTP’s long term agenda was to “establish Caliphate on the surface of earth.” A dedicated group of terrorists can play havoc if the rest of the society is divided but it cannot carry out its deadly agenda if a determined government supported by the army decides to eradicate the menace. The Pakistani Taliban operating from remote tribal areas are trying to turn the wheel of history backward. They can destroy schools and dispensaries and live in a world of their own. But the enthusiasm displayed by the men and women in tribal areas in elections and the way they are demanding facilities like schools, hospitals and asphalt roads indicates an awakening that would soon make the Taliban look out of sync even in the FATA. Nawaz Sharif is welcome to hold talks with the militants after being sworn in. He has however to realize that the Quaid’s vision of Pakistan as a modern, pluralistic Islamic democracy cannot be bartered for peace. The militants have to put down arms, accept the constitution and respect the law of the land. Anything short of that should not be acceptable. They have also to be told that Pakistan being a responsible state cannot allow anyone to launch attacks from its soil on any other country. If they accept it, fine. If not, let them face the might of the state.

Pakistan Today
The new government and the Balochistan issue Balochistan is an issue that has often been paid lip service only. The state has almost no writ in most of the province, lawlessness rules the roost. Successive governments have failed to bring peace to the restive province despite ordering military operations and giving special powers to FC. Tortured and mutilated dead bodies of Baloch resistance youth appear every other day. With most fingers pointing at agencies and army for their role in forced disappearances and killings, the provincial and federal governments have proven spineless over the years in handling the situation. But a golden opportunity to restore peace in Balochistan has just presented itself in the form of a new democratic government. The PML-N, which has come out to be the largest party in the country, has nominated Sanaullah Zehri as the next chief minister of the province, and his statement regarding the steps the party intends to take in the province is a welcome one. He said that he would make all possible efforts to take all political forces on board for durable peace in the violence-stricken province. While this statement of intent is a good one, what the Baloch people really need are actions, not statements. The new coalition government in Balochistan, comprised of PML-N, PkMAP and NP, has this rare chance as their collective representation can help smoothen things over. A decades old military operation, sectarian and ethnic violence, regressive approach on development and education by local feudal lords, lack of employment opportunities and an overall hostile environment has made the people of the province feel deprived and left out of mainstream Pakistani society. The problems in Balochistan are deep rooted but luckily their solutions are not that complex. Military must be called back from the areas where they have a hold and responsibility of law and order must be given to civilian law enforcement agencies. Baloch nationalist leaders can be invited to a dialogue process which should focus on peace, instead of pinpointing who did what wrong. Agencies must stop killings and recover all the people that have become a target of forced disappearances. Now that the provincial government enjoys federal government’s support, and CM nominee is a person very much unlike his predecessor, the dialogue process can result in meaningful actions to bring peace. Chief of National Party Dr Malik Baloch says that they are willing to initiate talks with the Baloch resistance fighters. The only thing he needs to add to efforts in this regard is the urgency of action. The sooner the talks initiate, the better the chances to bring peace to the province. It deserves a chance at peace.

anjum
Is there a method behind this madness? While politicians take years to be exposed, accusing fingers are being pointed at a number of caretakers in less than two months. The motives behind crucial transfers and appointment are being discussed widely in the media. The caretaker setup is tasked only to make arrangements for holding timely elections. The interim administration is supposed to comprise neutral individuals known for their integrity. They can retain the image only if they are fully focused on their one item agenda. No doubt there are several weaknesses in the system which need to be rectified and numerous injustices that have to be undone. There is however no need for urgency as the elected government is likely be in office in less than two weeks. The caretakers must use their powers sparingly and only in the limited sphere allotted to them. The caretakers are of course required to undertake administrative measures to help the ECP hold fair and free elections. Early last month the ECP ordered the federal and provincial administrations to change certain federal and provincial secretaries who were supposedly loyal to the outgoing administration. This was needed to provide all candidates a level playing field. Suspicions about civil servants lurk because the bureaucracy in general and in Sindh and Punjab in particular, has been stuffed with lateral entrants and political appointees often at the cost of merit, thanks to the patronage-driven political system prevalent in the country. These transfers were therefore understandable. But the matter did not remain confined to carrying out the orders of the ECP. There were stories in the media of government officers being transferred because they reportedly refused to carry out illegal orders. One minister, avowedly an NHA contractor, desired the termination of the services of two NHA officials working on contract. An additional secretary of ministry of communications who refused to implement the order was transferred without mentioning any reason. Acts of the sort have given birth to suspicions about the ulterior motives of some of the caretakers. What is more it is in violation of the Supreme Court verdict in Anita Turab case. It is not a matter of transferring one or two officers only. At least 20 high ranking officers have been dislodged without being assigned any reason. This is highly unjust because this impairs the working of the concerned departments, delays crucial decisions and causes unnecessary hassle to the officials who have to hire lawyers and make appearances at the court. The glaring high-handedness has finally led the Supreme Court to issue a contempt notice to the caretaker prime minister. What is highly disturbing is that the cycle of transfers has continued even after the elections. On Tuesday managing directors of three petroleum and natural resources companies were removed arbitrarily. One simply fails to understand the reason behind the highhanded activity. Is it just a brainwave or is there a method behind this madness?